Metalhead Software is an independent studio based in British Columbia. The studio is best known for developing and publishing the Super Mega Baseball franchise, a series of critically acclaimed baseball video games.
What Does the EA Metalhead Software Acquisition Mean?
According to EA Sports Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cam Weber, EA’s acquisition has been in the works since the summer of 2020. Neither Weber nor EA disclosed how much the acquisition was worth. Electronic Arts is one of the largest video game publishers in the world and has worked towards expanding its reach in recent years. Electronic Arts posted a $5.5 billion revenue in 2020. Suffice to say, EEA has some extra cash lying around to throw at studios that pique their interest. Speaking of interesting, it is fascinating that EA chose a studio that has only worked on and released baseball games. The last time EA published a baseball game was MVP 07: NCAA Baseball in 2007. Before this, EA also lost the rights to Major League Baseball to 2K back in 2005. Although Electronic Arts have had a hand in numerous sports games over the years, it has since shifted its focus towards other genres. However, in recent months, Electronic Arts seem to have found renewed interest in working on sports titles with the return of EA Sports PGA Tour. With that said, EA could have done a whole lot worse than to acquire an indie studio like Metalhead Software. Even though the company has only developed and published Super Mega Baseball on its own, Metalhead Software has received rave reviews for its work. The first game was released in 2014 and was lauded by critics. Fans, in particular, loved the game’s welcome controls and the surprising amount of depth. This allowed the game to cater to both beginners and baseball enthusiasts alike. Fast forward to 2020 and the most recent entry, Super Mega Baseball 3, continued to receive a warm welcome from both critics and audiences. What fans particularly love about the Super Mega Baseball series is its cartoonish graphics that attract players that have little to no idea about how to play baseball. Yet, at the same time, the Super Mega Baseball games are not necessarily just like NFL Blitz or NBA Jam. It doesn’t eschew realism despite how it looks. Rather, it’s still a proper baseball simulation game that offers more than enough to keep players interested for hours on end. As for what the result of the EA Metalhead Software acquisition will be, only time will tell. However, one thing that we are sure of is that Electronic Arts is busy snatching up one studio after another. Most recently, Electronic Arts finalized the deal to acquire one of its competitors, Codemasters, for a whopping $1.2 billion. With the Super Mega Baseball series in tow, Electronic Arts is now expected to return to making at least three sports simulation games. This includes the aforementioned EA Sports PGA Tour and a future NCAA Football game.
