The emergence of a new super-publisher that is similar in stature to former industry-daddy EA might force the US giant to re-evaluate its operations, an analyst from Soleil-Hudson Square Research claims.

The Dow Jones Newswires quote Daniel Ernst as stating: "EA is currently not performing at its best. Though it has a very strong portfolio, it needs to do better operationally.”

Rumoured changes include an increase in outsourcing and an increased focus on the online games space – which is obviously an area World of Warcraft owning Activision Blizzard excels in.

Martin Pyykkonen of Global Crown Capital added: "We might see EA aggressively buying some smaller private companies who are in the online-gaming space. A higher proportion of online advertisement revenue could be another source of high-margin revenues."

Following the weekend’s big news, EA’s shares have slipped two per cent, whilst Activision shares have climbed 13 per cent. The effects have been felt elsewhere in the industry, too, with the share price of publishers such as Take 2 and THQ also rising on the back of increasing takeover speculation.