EA sold to the devil

[Maryokutai]

If someone comes up with a better title I'll change it, but like that rumour that maf posted suggested, EA has indeed been sold to a trio of corporations:

 

EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for $55 Billion: https://news.ea.com/press-releases/press-releases-details/2025/EA-Announces-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-PIF-Silver-Lake-and-Affinity-Partners-for-55-Billion/default.aspx

One of those companies, Affinity Partners, has Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as CEO. One of the others, PIF, belongs to the saudis (because of course it does).

 

The focus going forward seems to be using AI all across the board*, so expect a lot of slob content and even more layoffs. I'm not the biggest supporter of EA – IIRC before Veilguard the last game I bought was Jedi Fallen Order – but this is yet another one of these revolting mergers, and not even because of the usual misery that comes with it, but with the political power involved. Plus I think it's safe to say BioWare in its entirety is now on the chopping block, their output does not even remotely align with soulless, money-hungry, right-winged, back-looking AI propaganda.

 

Wonder what stance outlets and youtubers will take with the upcoming Battlefield release. 

 

*paywalled now, but someone copied this part:

 

Quote

Financial Times: "The deal is a huge bet that artificial intelligence can significantly cut EA’s operating costs, allowing the equity consortium to manage a large debt load on a company that historically carried limited net debt.

AI is already widely used across Silicon Valley to accelerate many kinds of computer programming. In games development, it can be used to replace voice actors and create backdrops and other assets, as well as automating play testing to avoid bugs before release."

"The investors are betting that AI-based cost cuts will significantly boost EA’s profits in coming years, people involved in the transaction told the Financial Times."

 

 

[mfnick]

Man, like you I’m not a fan of EA at all. But this is unquestionably a lot worse. Fuck, I just don’t allow what to say apart from this is just really bad news.  

[Maf]

I think the only games they do that I like are Dead Space and Mass Effect. But if this really is the plan, I dunno. Part of me wants them to crash and burn but I also don’t want games to have one less publisher. I don’t care about FC or Battlefield at all, but a lot of other people do so I hope their games don’t go down the shitter. 
 

I want to see more reporting on this AI thing. Some game devs have raised the point that AI can be helpful to get the boring stuff done like making barrels and chairs. Which also cuts down on outsourcing costs. And as much as I dislike Gen AI, I don’t really have problem with AI making a chair. Though I get it’s a slippery slope. 
 

The investors might be assholes but EA has been making games for nearly 40 years. They must know that you can’t make games without people. Even in rogue-lites, the AI has to be tested to death because it can’t reliably put pre-fab LEGO blocks together on it’s own 

[one-armed dwarf]

In a few months we will see this thread bumped with news of colossal layoffs and the shuttering of Bioware, reset the clock. 

 

I'm not a subject matter expert on it by any means but the news says that it's a leveraged buyout, meaning they borrow a ton of money to make it happen so have taken on a load of debt. So there's no real upside to anyone in it except the C Suite, Saudis and Kushner/the Trump gang

[Maf]

I think lay-offs and BioWare shut down is very realistic. I mean the former is basically forgone. Hopefully BioWare gets sold to someone, maybe 

[mfnick]

3 hours ago, Maf said:

want to see more reporting on this AI thing. Some game devs have raised the point that AI can be helpful to get the boring stuff done like making barrels and chairs. Which also cuts down on outsourcing costs. And as much as I dislike Gen AI, I don’t really have problem with AI making a chair. Though I get it’s a slippery slope. 

Thing is a lot of this stuff already exists as procedural generation. Just like Speed Tree. AI isn’t needed. It’s literally being forced in just because the world’s billionaires have decided that’s the next big thing and buzzword. 
 

& it Isn’t a slippery slope, it’s a fucking vertical drop. 

[Sly Reflex]

EA killed a lot of game studios, now it's their time to be killed by the machine.

 

What pisses me off is that the Saudi's have enough money to bankroll pretty much everything they want. Just put together your own studio and make whatever you like.

 

Although when you are morally bankrupt and hateful as fuck, being creative is impossible. It's impossible to be a visionary when you are curtailing people left right and centre. 

 

Couldn't have happened to a nicer company though. First Ubi shitting down its own legs and now this. I think it's quite exciting to see how they fuck this up. Because they will fuck it up.

 

I wish this was the first controversial thing I saw this year including KSA, but it's far from it and it won't be the last. 

[Guest]

This will be an interesting one, Large groups of people constantly complain about sports / esports being hosted by Saudis for big money. That they shouldn't be supported due to their views on things like gender equality so forth.

 

How many gamers will be prepared to vote with their wallets though, that being said with over use of AI and no creativity at EA for the last 20 years many of us are probably not its target audience. The Sports and Shooter crowds will Do the heavy lifting for them.

Repetitive Yearly games, with no major improvements, monetised to hell, The Casuals will continue lap this shit up.

And who ever the owners are wont give 2 craps if their library of long dead franchises stay the way

 

[shinymcshine]

It will be interesting to see whether they throw a bunch of money at FIFA to regain the official licensing - as a means to influence the development of world football.

[DANGERMAN]

I said the other day, SNK being bought was really shit, seeing games you like and want to support, but not being able to even if that means them going away. It's shit, as @Snaggletoothsaid, a lot of people are either going to have to deal with that or sell out 

 

I know someone who is a producer at EA, they're on Battlefield (everyone is atm). It sounds like ownership are fairly distant, not very hands on, which is understandable with that many employees, so it might not change their day to day much 

 

On a personal level, I couldn't give a fuck what happens to EA outside of not wanting PIF etc to do well 

[Maryokutai]

I don't think there's much overlap between the annual FIFA buyer (or FC I suppose) and those who are in the know of who's actually making the game. In an ideal world people should be aware whom they're giving their money, but when most don't even bother questioning where their food comes from (the thing you put into yourself), then I think it's a bit too optimistic to expect any behavioural change regarding videogame consumption.

 

On my end it would be a real test of will to not buy the next Mass Effect but as things stand I don't expect that game to ever come out now anyway.

[Guest]

What a depressing thread 😅 Cheer up guys. 

[one-armed dwarf]

Fair point, gonna book some tickets to the Riyhad comedy festival 👍

[Sly Reflex]

Loaded up with 20 billion debt as well.

 

I would feel bad for EA, but you know. Fuck 'em. They had a stint in the 90's when they were great, then they got shit. They gained a conscience in the mid 00's when everyone realised they were an awful company, dropped a few bangers and then when back to trying to be the worst company they possibly could be.

 

If I was part of that umbrella now I would be looking to jump ship, that is of course if I survive the huge planned cuts that usually follow acquisitions like these.

 

I wonder how long it will be before the games get even worse and the whole things starts to capsize?

 

Also, do we see the KSA trying to muscle in on any other companies. There was that other publisher I forget the name of that went tits up, I am surprised they didn't step in there. Or maybe they are game normies and really only give a fuck about FIFA and F1?

[Maryokutai]

On 30/09/2025 at 23:57, Sly Reflex said:

dropped a few bangers and then when back to trying to be the worst company they possibly could be.

 

I presume you're talking about the Mirror's Edge/Dead Space/Shadows of the Damned phase but can you really blame them for not doing that anymore after most of these failed to find an audience? I think they get a lot of flack but at the end of the day they've been bankrolling some cool stuff the likes of Activision or Ubi never bothers with. The whole EA Originals* programme that gave us Untangled, Lost in Random or Hazelight's games, or the fact that BioWare is still allowed to breathe even though their last success came out in 2014.

 

There's a bit more of a grey area here than the pure black people seem to brush them with I think. Obviously there's been some shitty stuff in the past and they mishandled a lot of IPs (most infamously Need for Speed and C&C), but when the gaming populace tells you 'we only buy FIFA' then, well, you end up doing only FIFA.

 

*Also, I highly suspect that programme getting cut as well. Outside of Hazelight's games none of these make any money and even those are peanuts compared to the big bucks from FIFA etc.

[Sly Reflex]

I think they did find an audience though?

 

Dead Space had 3 entries before they fucked it.

 

Mirror's Edge got a sequel, which fucked it.

 

Skate got 3 entries before they binned it off, and then brought it back and seemingly everyone hates it?

 

Rockband got 4 entries (and Beatles) before they fucked it off.

 

Fight Night was incredible. They shelved it. 

Burnout ran like hell before they nixed it at Paradise.

 

Battlefield was incredible in the 00's. They went on to bollocks that up. It might only just be recovering, we shall see when 6 drops.

 

Def Jam, incredibly silly games. Binned off. I think they made these at least, or had a finger in the pie.

 

The Lord of the Rings movie tie in games which were fantastic. I can see why they never carried on with these, since the films were over and done with. 

 

SSX, again another title that was mothballed.

 

The Dirt games, just gone, couldn't give a shit to carry it on, they already got what they wanted. No cause for them being an ongoing concern. Just turn Codemasters into an F1 mill.

 

Mass Effects and Dragon Age, although I would say both of these are ongoing concerns. At least for now...

 

Various Command and Conquer games. Again, binned off.

 

Don't forget Titanfall, a game that was way ahead of it's rivals so much that they cribbed from it the years following, but EA decided to bury it because they are clueless cunts.

 

I know lots of people that all played these games. Sure, they weren't on the level of FIFA or Madden in earnings, but they had communities, they had people buying them. A lot of them are critically rated incredibly high. I know it's a business, but when you put it all out flat like this, you realise what fucking dickheads EA were only chasing the bottom line, the least work for the biggest gains. It's why I, and others, have zero fucking sympathy for them.

 

It's why I bring it up, EA probably provided you with more joy than you realise, they plated up a lot of good games we spent significant chunks of our time in, but it wasn't enough. I've gone from spending maybe a few hundred quid on EA games per year, to £0. And that £0 is out of principle now, because I am sick and tired of them starting stuff, getting a game or so in and then pulling the rug.

 

My lost coin is a drop in the ocean to them. Someone that plays the sports games will easily spend what I would have spent on card packs, which will have been minimal effort to make for them.

 

And this is why I am so hostile to them whenever they (or any other huge company) are brought up. They couldn't give a shit about making some money, they want to make all of the money, and they want to make it for the least effort possible. And whilst they may actually get their arse in gear and make something good every once in a while, the rest of the stuff they make is as soulless and as designed by committee as is possibly can be.

 

I cannot and will not bat for them. It's a rotten company. When you look over all the games I just posted. What killed them? Greed? A misunderstanding of what made them good in the first place? They under performed insane expectations at retail? They cut corners or gave the responsibility to teams incapable of delivering because it was cheaper? The fact they could invest less elsewhere and get a better return?

 

I don't expect you to fully agree with me. Damn, I might look a this tomorrow and will have changed my mind on some of it. But from where I stand? EA can get fucked. I don't think I'll ever shift from that position. Because they can go and get fucked. And they can continue going and get fucked while ever they are acting like they have over the past quarter of a decade buying stuff up, sanitising it and then getting mad when it doesn't make them all the money in the world so they shutter it. 

[Maryokutai]

You're looking at it in a vacuum though. Games like Skate, Rockband, SSX or Burnout might have gotten shelved, but the genres they belonged to completely disappeared from the scene at the same time. Activision wasn't doing Tony Hawk anymore, Nintendo forgot about 1080°, arcade racers completely died after blur and Split/Second cannibalised each other and only very recently resurfaced through AA/indie efforts. Sometimes there's just a change in player interest which leads to a shift in what genres publishers/developers focus on. Whether that shift happens organically or is forced through IP mishandling is maybe another question.

 

Don't get me wrong, as consumers we shouldn't technically care about that and if Mirror's Edge made 10$ of profit then I want them to continue with it (or at least make a third, I don't think the premise is designed to spawn sequel after sequel anyway). But with all the recent stories of how much power shareholders actually do have over these companies I can't help but be at least a little glad that someone managed to smuggle games like Lost in Random through the back door.

 

Titanfall I will give you though, that was blatantly mismanaged and one of the biggest missed chances in recent times. And the whole Codemasters thing was pretty shit. Hence why I say it's a bit grey-ish, and I don't want to defend them, they've done some pretty stupid things – like forcing Frostbite unto every studio, which was the beginning of BioWare's tumbling period, or the whole Battlefront lootbox fiasko. But some things might have just been out of their control and when I see those smaller games I mentioned come out despite all that, then there's at least some people there who care, and those will likely drown with the rest of the good bunch by the time the sale goes through.

[one-armed dwarf]

Yeah, im not sure what we're expecting from them realistically with some of those IP. They tried to bring Rock Band back but that genre burned out so hard that it won't recover for another generation or two, if ever, I reckon.

 

I'm guilty of this myself but I feel sometimes the way we talk about these companies is too self centered, in a "what have you done for me lately" kind of way that involves wilfull blindness of a lot of other factors and impacts, specifically the intellectual impact to the industry as tons of talent gets laid off never to return and what that means in general 

 

(Hypocritical rant) LOTR games sucked though, I never got the appeal with these. I hated how they had no narrative flow to them and they just stuck a bunch of context-free movie clips badly bridging different sections of story, relying on you to watch the films to fill in those gaps, and you dial in repetitive combos against dumbass enemies. I'm glad at least that IP adaptations have improved so much but this is for a hot topic discussion I suppose

[Sly Reflex]

It's true that some games do come to the end of what they can do with them, or should just have some sort of logical ending where they can be sent off right. Maybe even have a had reboot on what we expect from them, like how Resident Evil has done. That series managed to completely revamp itself several times now, and ape older styles of play with modern features. I think a lot of long running series could do with that. Looking at stuff like Gears and Halo that are tired as fuck. Either end them or do something interesting with them. They are the equivalent of ACDC touring now, going through the motions for a paycheck. 

 

NFS and Forza Horizon getting pretty much yearly releases eat through your arcade racers argument. Granted, I do see that there was a significant drop off in that genre, but there's still games there. I feel like Horizon is the leading Forza platform now. 

 

I believe oversaturation killed skating games more than anything, there were little difference in them year on year and it lead to fatigue. Same with Guitar Hero. I will say with the latter if you are really into them, you're really into them. I don't think it's any accident that Clone Hero is as prolific as it is within those circles because that market is not been sated. The remakes of the THPS games went down pretty well from what I saw too. I also think that the environment that drove those games no longer has a big spokesman for it in the same way Tony Hawk could. Same with Rally and McRae and Block. They are no longer in the public conscience as much as they were because of that. Nobody knows who Evans, Tanak or Rovanpera is. Not like F1 with Hamilton, Norris and Lerclerc. I don't even watch F1 and I can tell you those names. I couldn't even tell you one famous skateboarder outside of the ones featured in the original THPS games. So on that front, it's maybe a culture thing?

 

I think as well, you mention the indie scene covering, it's not like that thing is instant, you know? People that grew up playing Wipeout suddenly realise that we've not had a Wipeout in a while and then someone actively goes and makes something that resembles it. Same goes for Fight Night. And Skate. And Battlefield. Sure, they might not reach the heights or penetration of those original titles because they were made by hundreds of people and had budgets in the millions. It's why we've ended up with Undisputed and Battlebit. Things like that replacement take time, and also know how. For every semi success like Wreckfast you have something like Session that has a lot of hope behind it and eventually fizzles out.

 

Been self centered to a companies output is pretty laughable too? I get it, spending time catering to someone like me, or people like me isn't profitable enough. Although not getting mad when those players actively call out or criticize the actions of a company with their shitty practices and directing everything into a monoculture is a bit silly, no?

 

The derision is deserved, not just for the narrow output, but also the practices that lead them there. That stance from me just isn't aimed at EA. It's aimed at all of them. EA might be the main culprit in this particular discussion, but to some degree they are all guilty of various degrees of shite.

[Maryokutai]

When I say arcade racers I mean the more wacky kind, with additional mechanics beyond just driving and drifting, but not quite a fun racer yet. Maybe people define these differently and consider them the same, but for me Forza Horizon or Need for Speed aren't entirely comparable to Burnout, Split/Second or even Ridge Racer. And there's been very little movement on that front since then, and mostly limited to smaller projects.

 

As for the rest I get your point, I don't agree on all of it, but neither of us is going to convince the other.