>>23686688

tyb

EA's $55 billion acquisition is the biggest leveraged buyout in private equity history. Here's why it has everyone terrified

Private equity and PIF investment aren't a reassuring pair.

On Monday, news broke that EA, one of the world's largest publicly-traded game publishers, is being taken private in a $55 billion leveraged buyout funded by a group of investors including Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners private equity firm and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

If the deal earns shareholder and regulator approval, it'll be the largest leveraged buyout in history—and it's already inspiring dread in fans and EA developers alike.

To understand why the buyout news seems dire to so many, we first need to understand private equity and what exactly a leveraged buyout entails. The PIF, meanwhile, is its own troubling wildcard.

Since 1990, EA has been a public company: Like other publicly traded businesses, its ownership—or equity—has been determined by the distribution of shares of capital stock that are bought and sold through stock exchanges. Being a publicly traded company offers advantages, the most obvious being the ability to raise funds by selling shares of stock.

But public companies have their disadvantages, too—particularly for consumers in creative and entertainment industries. Shareholder primacy, the theory that delivering value to shareholders should be the singular principle guiding corporate strategy, is the era's prevailing economic philosophy.

That relentless pursuit of profit maximization, however, often prioritizes short-term returns over quality, creative output, and worker security, manifesting in videogames as risk-averse release strategy, predatory monetization schemes, and storms of layoffs and studio closures—all of which have marked EA's controversial history.

While EA won't be subject to the whims of the stock market, private equity ownership presents its own pitfalls.

It's understandable how the news that EA will be transitioning to private ownership could have an appeal. But while EA won't be subject to the whims of the stock market, private equity ownership presents its own pitfalls

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/eas-usd55-billion-acquisition-is-the-biggest-leveraged-buyout-in-private-equity-history-heres-why-it-has-everyone-terrified/

>>23686688

Former BioWare lead writer reads the runes on EA-Saudi deal and speculates that 'guns and football' are in, 'gay stuff' is out, and the venerable RPG studio may be for the chop

The rumours have been swirling for a while, before today brought a major industry announcement: EA has struck a $55 billion deal to go private in a Saudi-backed buyout. It's the biggest leveraged buyout in history, meaning that the new EA is instantly saddled with $20 billion of debt, and will face intense pressure to crank those profits. And it's also the latest step in the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund's mission to "sportswash" the brutal regime, by using its influence and ubiquity across entertainment industries to distract from some of the world's most appalling human rights abuses.

As the crack team at PCG towers discussed the deal, one line stuck with me: "I wouldn't want to be sitting in a BioWare chair right now." The vibes around one of the all-time great RPG studios have not been good in recent years, and the fairly decent Dragon Age: The Veilguard didn't persuade anyone that the studio is capable of surpassing contemporary greats like Baldur's Gate 3 or Disco Elysium. Early this year, the studio was apparently cut to the bone in a round of layoffs, though a new Mass Effect game remains in development. For now.

Everyone who's ever loved a BioWare game, which is surely an awful lot of us, is probably feeling quite gloomy about the studio's prospects. And that extends to former BioWare leads, who're watching this acquisition and thinking pretty much what we're all thinking: It might not happen tomorrow, but this could be the death knell for the studio.

Patrick Weekes, who goes by Trick Weekes, was a writer at BioWare from 2005 to 2025, working across various Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles, and was lead writer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. They recently took to Bluesky, linking coverage of the EA-Saudi deal alongside an imaginary conversation that goes like this:

Buyers: So your games… guns and football, yes?

–EA: Mmhmm, mmhmm, mostly guns and football, yep.-

Buyers: No gay stuff? No politics we're not going to like?

EA: Haha, definitely not! Hey, could you give me one sec? I just need to shut down a studio real quick.

Weekes was one of those laid off at the start of the year and so can afford to be frank, while anyone still at BioWare will no doubt be deleting all social media apps lest temptation win out.

As for the fans? A quick look at the Mass Effect subreddit shows the top thread on the acquisition is called simply "It's over, Commander", with seemingly every fan of the series bracing for bad news. The only slight notes of positivity are those who think EA might sell BioWare but, honestly, who's lining up to buy a AAA studio that hasn't had a major hit since arguably Mass Effect 3?

The EA-Saudi deal was only announced today, and we're going to be watching the fallout from this for years to come. It doesn't bode well for fans of any EA series, really. But for BioWare especially, this could be existential.

MAKE GAMES GREAT AGAIN

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/former-bioware-lead-writer-reads-the-runes-on-ea-saudi-deal-and-speculates-that-guns-and-football-are-in-gay-stuff-is-out-and-the-venerable-rpg-studio-may-be-for-the-chop/

>>23686828

>>23686856

>EA is such a shitty company. Why would saudi even bother buying that shit.

>Madden