

Join the discussion
Write your take first — we'll ask for email only when you're ready to publish.
- Hacker News
- Between Saudi and right wing influence it seems one publisher will be trying to influence social commentary.by _carbyau_
- I thought I'd care more, but all EA is releasing nowadays is normie slop anyway, so yeah.by anal_reactor
- Ah private equity, the king midas of shit.by thefz
- This is being bought by Affinity Partners, the same Kushner led group that’s trying to buy out FIFA?
Is the Trump family just going to own all of our entertainment and military companies?
by lovich - Uh, nobody is trying to buy out FIFA....by nrightnour
- > Is the Trump family just going to own all of our entertainment and military companies?
Are we the Bad Guys?
Not any more. Now we're the Worse Guys.
by BLKNSLVR - Does this mean we'll finally get a new Sim City?by LarsDu88
- SimCopter really should have priority IMO.by johanvts
- Are you that eager to give your money to the Saudis and Kushner?
There’s a whole world of gaming out there.
by sph - You'll take Skylines 2 and you'll like it.by Morromist
- Wow, so EA’s yearly loan interest alone will be more than their yearly profits.
If they aren't completely toast, they'll be a shell of what they are today, which is already a shell of what they once were.
by nrightnour - Because the Saudis leveraged this buyout via a massive loan from JP Morgan, EA's debt is now 10 times higher than it was when it was a publicly traded company: $2.2b to $22b.
Turns out the notion that they wouldn’t need humans to make games and they would use AI for most things was a pipe dream and firing staff to be profitable with the huge loan didn't work.
Now they are fucked.
Every company that spends money to buy up companies died and goes defunct because they keep failing to realize that they have to keep spending loads of money to make money and it doesn’t just roll in after acquiring IPs. Not even mobile slop or live service can save them anymore.
by krige - Bending Spoons seems to be doing fineby neilfrndes
- Fuck this corrupt system.
You want to buy a company? Bring your own fucking money. Why do we have to pay for this shit?
by whatever1 - What a waste of Saudi money.by rockskon
- Not a waste either, it doesn't cost them anything. The debt is on EA.by sebazzz
- It's not a financial investment. They're buying influence.by bestouff
- End of an era. Who do we vote as the worst company ever now?by tomkarho
- Palantir? Flock?by inigyou
- Still EA. Had been boycotting them since like 2012 or so and will continue to do it. (no pirating or f2p stuff inclusive)by Yizahi
- I'm not sure they're even the worst games company. Ubisoft would give them a run for their money but that's a $30 DLC over a $70 base price I refused to pay for.
No, EA earn every criticism and this move to PE will do absolutely nothing to improve their business practices.
by oliwarner - Won't Saudi ownership of something bad make it even worse? The era goes on!by gspr
- EA being voted as the worst company has always been funny to me. The world would be a far better place if it was indeed the case.by snowram
- I guess it'll keep existing with the name EA? "Public investment fund" doesn't sound too fitting for a game companyby Aardwolf
- I disagree. They're not gonna give up the brand recognition to rename it. They specifically wanted "Electronic Arts". EA has Battlefield, FIFA, The Sims, and Madden. Those four alone are probably responsible for 90% of the company's revenue.
If anything, now you can say that EA is doubly the worst company, especially in gaming.
by LocalH - Well at least as far as gaming companies go, Blizzard always seems willing to throw its hat in the ring.by vunderba