"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: This week's biggest gaming releases are new consoles, namely Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox Series X and Series S, both out November 10, and Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 5, out November 12. The Series X and discless Series S are priced at $499 and $299, respectively, while the PS5 and discless version of the PS5 are priced at $499 and $399, respectively.

Along with the new consoles, several big games from major publishers are also rolling out this week. Of note, Sony's "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" rolls out November 12 for PlayStation 4 and PS5, while Ubisoft's (UBSFY) "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla" launches November 10 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. In addition, Sega's (SGAMY) "Yakuza: Like a Dragon" makes it's Western debut this week, rolling out on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, with a PS5 release scheduled for March 2, 2021.

TAKE-TWO: Before the market open on Tuesday, Take-Two (TTWO) announced that it agreed to acquire U.K.-based game publisher and developer Codemasters. In the transaction, Codemasters' shareholders will be entitled to receive approximately $1.58 in cash and 0.02834 shares of Take-Two common stock for each ordinary share of Codemasters. Based on Take-Two's closing share price of $168.68 and the exchange rate of $1.31 to GBP 1.00 on November 5, the transaction values each Codemasters' share at $6.39 and an implied equity value of approximately $994M. The acquisition is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of calendar 2021. Codemasters largely specializes in racing sims, including the "Dirt" and "F1" game franchises.

Meanwhile, Take-Two last Thursday reported better-than-expected bookings for the second quarter, with chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick saying that its operating results for the quarter "significantly exceeded" the company's expectations. The company also raised its net bookings outlook for fiscal 2021.

NINTENDO: Also reporting quarterly results last week was Nintendo (NTDOY), which reported first half earnings that grew 240% year-over-year. In its quarterly report, Nintendo said that year-over-year sales in H1 rose 73.3%, with hardware sales reaching 12.53M units in the period, up 80.9% year-over-year. Of note, the company said it sold 14.3M copies of "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" in the first half, along with 2.82M unit sales for "Paper Mario: The Origami King" and 5.21 unit sales of "Super Mario 3D All-Stars."

EA: In addition, Electronic Arts (EA) reported lower-than-expected Q2 net bookings, though it raised its fiscal 2021 earnings guidance. "Thanks to the incredible work of our teams and everything they continue to do for players while working from home, we're delivering more fan-favorite games, growing our leading live services, and engaging more players across more platforms than ever before," said CEO Andrew Wilson. "Our business has grown significantly this year, and we are projecting continued expansion into FY22 and beyond."

Prior to the earnings report, however, the game maker made a number of key announcements. EA detailed how its newest games will run on next-gen consoles, noting that games like "Apex Legends," "Star Wars: Squadrons," and "The Sims 4" will received enhancements on Xbox Series X and PS5 in the future, along with cross-play support with other consoles. In addition, EA announced an extension of its multi-year deal with the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Player's Association to continue make "EA Sports NHL" games. Meanwhile, EA and UFC announced a multi-year renewal of their partnership to continue to deliver mixed martial arts, or MMA, games.

OTHER STORIES TO WATCH:

• BBC reported last Thursday that owners of Apple's (AAPL) iPhones and iPads may soon be able to play Epic's "Fortnite" again via Nvidia's (NVDA) GeForce cloud gaming service. Investors in Epic include Tencent (TCEHY), KKR (KKR), Disney (DIS), and Sony.
• Sega Sammy Holdings intends to withdraw from game arcade operations in Japan by the end of 2020 amid the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Japan Times.
• Amazon (AMZN) told customers that preorders for Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Series X video game console may not arrive on November 10 but will arrive by December 31 or before, according to The Verge.