Nexon Reported to Have Interest in Acquisition of Electronic Arts

Now here's a kind of rumor that you don't hear of a whole lot.

Reports are indicating (though not confirmed) that Nexon (which is known for Vindictus and Maple Story) may be interested in making a run on Electronic Arts (which is known for Madden and Mass Effect). First reported by Bloomberg, the unusual combination does have at least some form of plausibility -- EA has had recent success with launching an MMO thanks to Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the mega-publisher's December acquisition of KlickNation gives the games industry's resident megaton gorilla a significant Facebook MMO presence.

Obviously, no official comments have been submitted by either company due to the nature of these reports (let alone typical corporate policy aesthetics) -- but if confirmed, this could open up a seriously unprecedented avenue for what is undoubtedly a primarily Asian-centric games company... and in fact has already had a resounding effect on EA's pricing on Wall Street (a 6.1% market increase at the bell, in more specific terms). With that said, it remains to be seen if we're actually going to see The Old Republic in the same MMO network as Maple Story -- but either way, this is certainly an interesting situation to follow up on.

Via Bloomberg