After the emergence of Activision Blizzard this week, industry rumour-mongering has gathered pace over which rival publishers could make the next move.

Analyst and Gameshadow boss Nicholas Lovell believes that EA must act fast to move into the MMO space - and a move for NCsoft would be the best bet.

“The deal will combine Activision’s strong publishing franchises (like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk) with Vivendi’s games business, and particularly with World of Warcraft, which with over 9.3 million subscribers is the world’s number one multi-player online role-playing game franchise,” said Lovell on his Gameshadow blog. “It’s a huge deal, creating a real threat to Electronic Arts, particularly as EA does not yet have a category-killing MMO."

“So despite recent comments to the contrary, the ongoing mergers and acquisitions in the games industry are far from over. What’s next? How about Electronic Arts bidding for NCSoft to get hold of Lineage, Tabula Rasa and Guild Wars?”

EA and NCsoft decided not to comment when contacted by MCV.

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