Electronic Arts today announced that its acquisition of Codemasters is complete. That acquisition was wrapped up pretty fast, as it was only announced back at the beginning of December. The deal sees Electronic Arts buying up Codemasters in a $1.2 billion deal, getting all of the franchises Codemasters owns in the process.
Online publishing platform Medium has acquired Glose, a Paris-based online ebook store that includes some robust social features. The company announced the business deal on Friday, stating that it will integrate Glose with its platform to bring more than 1.5 million ebooks -- and the related Glose features -- to its users.
Gaming accessories company Turtle Beach has acquired Neat Microphones, the company behind a variety of uniquely-designed analog and USB microphones. Demand for microphones has increased as more consumers take up gaming streaming, podcasting, and other activities that require high-end microphones. The announcement comes ahead of Neat's 2021 product launches.
This week Niantic announced that they'd acquired the company called Mayhem. This acquisition was made for what Niantic described as a reinforcement of their commitment to "real-world social as the centerpiece of our mission." In other words: They're aiming to take a more firm grasp on the masses of gamers playing Pokemon GO out there in the real world.
![Twitter buys Breaker social podcast app to boost new Spaces [UPDATED]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/0_OARaC8VMq7rmOXew-1280x720.jpg)
Twitter has long been trying to find ways to grow beyond its core nature of broadcasting short snippets of text. It bought Vine long before short looping videos became a fad and Periscope when live streaming was just beginning to gain traction. Both are now dead (Periscope shuts down in March) but Twitter has again branched of with Instagram Stories-like Fleets and audio chat Spaces, the latter of which might just get a bit of boost with Twitter's latest acquisition.
Soon after a leak revealing as much, Amazon has officially acquired Wondery, an independent podcast network that'll help the Internet retailer take on Spotify and other big competitors. The news comes only weeks after Amazon greatly expanded its podcast offerings through Music, the company's streaming service, and around a year after Spotify acquired Gimlet Media.
It has been more than a year since Google announced its intention to acquire Fitbit and it has not been a smooth ride for either company. It recently overcame one major hurdle when the European Commission finally gave its approval after much negotiations and concessions on Google's part. The deal, however, still has to be approved in the US but even if gets the FTC's and DOJ's green light, it might still face some substantial fines if it goes through the acquisition without Australia's approval.
Way back in November of 2019, Google announced its intention to purchase Fitbit for a whopping $2.1 billion. For a company as big as Google, any kind of acquisition is going to come under some pretty intense regulatory scrutiny, especially when the subject of its acquisition is a name as big as Fitbit. Fast forward 13 months later, and it looks like Google is about to get the regulatory approval it was looking for in the EU.
Although Android's and Chrome OS' open source natures allow them to be reshaped and installed on a variety of devices, Google has never really endorsed or even encouraged putting them on anything other than smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, and a small number of boxes. Companies like Neverware have taken it upon themselves to make that happen, creating CloudReady OS, a version of Chrome OS that can be installed on a wide range of laptops, including older and unsupported Chromebooks. Now it seems that Google has acquired Neverware, opening the door to Chrome OS' greater expansion, presuming Google allows it.
Electronic Arts today announced a new deal to purchase UK developer and publisher Codemasters. Electronic Arts has reached an agreement with the Board of Codemasters to buy the company for £6.04 (around $7.98) per share, which equates to a grand total of $1.2 billion. It's a big acquisition to be sure, and with it, it seems that Electronic Arts is looking to corner the racing game market.
Uber and Joby Aviation just announced a deal that included an acquisition, "expanded partnership", and $75 million dollars. Uber will invest "a further $75 million" more than they'd previously invested in the aviation company - they'd previously invested $50 million as part of Joby's Series C financing round in the first month of 2020.
With its resources being restricted and possibly running low, it was really only a matter of time before Huawei took drastic measures to keep itself afloat. "Drastic measures" often imply layoffs, divestment, and sales, none of which look good no matter which way you look at it. Huawei is, of course, trying to point it in a positive light but it remains to be seen if Honor will survive this acquisition by a new Chinese company representing Honor's own agents and dealers.