From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


So the EA buyout is official, even if not quite completed yet (it's
expected to close by end of month).* A lot of fuss has been made about
the fact that it is the Saudi regime buying the company, worrying that
the company's products will suddenly have an Islamic slant to them,
which I think is mostly nonsense. Less talked about is how this is a
leveraged buyout which is going to leave EA with a fresh twenty
billion dollar debt on the books that is probably going to destroy the company... or at least force it to rely even more heavily on egregious
and awful post-purchase monetizations.

EA is already struggling somewhat, partly because they are already
carrying $1 billion in debt. It's expensive to make games, and not all
of EA's recent products have been huge successes that have made back
the investment required to create them. Increasing that debt load by
twenty times isn't going to make things any easier. EA's press
announcements say that its ""mission, values, and commitment to
players and fans around the world remain unchanged" but there's no way
that's possible.

Forced to pump so much money into paying off the debt (and the
interest), the company is going to have less cash for developing
games. It'll likely have to close even more studios, and rush products
out the door even faster. There won't be an opportunity to risk on
unproven products, so don't expect anything that doesn't have
mass-market appeal... and do expect even more cards and lootboxes and
cosmetics and other methods of nickel-and-diming their customers with
features that used to be included in the base game.

In fact, the best EA can hope for is that it gets resold wholesale to
some other publisher (Microsoft, maybe, or Sony) who actually value
the company for its IP and potential... but then they'd have to assume
the $20 billion debt. More likely, it will be stripped down for parts,
with the PIF (the Saudi investment fund buying the company) keeping
the best bits --mainly, the sports game franchises, which are by far
the most profitable parts of the company, and would fit in with the
Saudi regime's attempts to dominate the sporting industry worldwide--
and selling off the other IPs for profit.

Which might not be a bad thing. It might finally free up beloved
properties like "Ultima", "Populous", "Wing Commander", "Command &
Conquer" or dozens more and let interested developers take a crack at
them. EA's been hoarding a lot of those for decades.


Do you think this buy-out is going to do anything good for the
company? Will (as some claim) this massive debt force EA to be more
'efficient' in how it spends its money, resulting in a leaner and
better corporation? Or is it going to destroy an icon of the gaming
industry? And will any good come out of it, do you think?








* more on the story https://www.gamesindustry.biz/why-the-55bn-acquisition-of-electronic-arts-isnt-your-usual-leveraged-buyout


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

So the EA buyout is official, even if not quite completed yet (it's
expected to close by end of month).* A lot of fuss has been made about
the fact that it is the Saudi regime buying the company, worrying that
the company's products will suddenly have an Islamic slant to them,
which I think is mostly nonsense. Less talked about is how this is a leveraged buyout which is going to leave EA with a fresh twenty
billion dollar debt on the books that is probably going to destroy the company... or at least force it to rely even more heavily on egregious
and awful post-purchase monetizations.

EA is already struggling somewhat, partly because they are already
carrying $1 billion in debt. It's expensive to make games, and not all
of EA's recent products have been huge successes that have made back
the investment required to create them. Increasing that debt load by
twenty times isn't going to make things any easier. EA's press
announcements say that its ""mission, values, and commitment to
players and fans around the world remain unchanged" but there's no way
that's possible.

Forced to pump so much money into paying off the debt (and the
interest), the company is going to have less cash for developing
games. It'll likely have to close even more studios, and rush products
out the door even faster. There won't be an opportunity to risk on
unproven products, so don't expect anything that doesn't have
mass-market appeal... and do expect even more cards and lootboxes and cosmetics and other methods of nickel-and-diming their customers with features that used to be included in the base game.

In fact, the best EA can hope for is that it gets resold wholesale to
some other publisher (Microsoft, maybe, or Sony) who actually value
the company for its IP and potential... but then they'd have to assume
the $20 billion debt. More likely, it will be stripped down for parts,
with the PIF (the Saudi investment fund buying the company) keeping
the best bits --mainly, the sports game franchises, which are by far
the most profitable parts of the company, and would fit in with the
Saudi regime's attempts to dominate the sporting industry worldwide--
and selling off the other IPs for profit.

Which might not be a bad thing. It might finally free up beloved
properties like "Ultima", "Populous", "Wing Commander", "Command &
Conquer" or dozens more and let interested developers take a crack at
them. EA's been hoarding a lot of those for decades.

Do you think this buy-out is going to do anything good for the
company? Will (as some claim) this massive debt force EA to be more 'efficient' in how it spends its money, resulting in a leaner and
better corporation? Or is it going to destroy an icon of the gaming
industry? And will any good come out of it, do you think?

Hopefully it will knock things around and shake them up setting a
collision with Activision so that a Zork game falls out of the woodwork.
As much as you are dedicated to your number, I am far more dedicated to
the acquisition of Zork games.
--
The future has begun
The waiting is over
We have gained time
For one blink of an eye
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