It's been a rough 2008 for game publishers, at least financially, and 2009 doesn't look good either. That may cause some publishers to become targets for being bought by larger multi-media companies. A new story on the Variety web site speculates that one of those publishers could be none other than Electronic Arts.

EA's financial situation isn't the best right now after a failed attempt to purchase rival Take Two collapsed and losses that are causing EA to shut down dev studios and lay off 10 percent of its workers. However it's still one of the biggest game publishers in the industry and could be a target for acquisition itself.

Variety states, "Disney is seen as a buyer, with market speculation centering on videogame company Electronic Arts as a possible target." Disney has its own game publishing division, Disney Interactive, which released titles like Turok and Pure last year and owns a number of game developers itself including Junction Point Studios which is reportedly working on a Disney-themed game.