🚨 Electronic Arts (EA) Goes Private in a $55B Blockbuster
Electronic Arts — the publisher behind FIFA/EA SPORTS FC, Madden, The Sims, Battlefield — is leaving public markets in a $55B all-cash buyout by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.
📊 Deal Terms
$210 per share in cash (~25% premium, $55B EV)
~$36B equity + $20B debt (J.P. Morgan financing)
Closing expected Q1 FY27
Andrew Wilson stays as CEO
⚽ Why it matters
For PIF, football is the crown jewel: EA SPORTS FC is the global interactive gateway to the world’s 1 sport. Add Madden + F1 and you’ve got dominance across U.S. and global sports.
For EA, this means freedom from quarterly Wall St. pressure, a chance to double down on live services, and space to take creative bets.
⚡ The bigger picture
This is now the largest all-cash private equity–backed take-private ever, second only to Microsoft’s $68.7B Activision deal in gaming.
It shows how sovereign and PE capital are turning gaming into a core asset class — treating franchises like EA SPORTS FC not just as games, but as cultural infrastructure.
Saudi is playing this masterfully, stitching together a global sports-entertainment empire (Scopely in mobile, Niantic, Inc. in AR, now EA at the center).
⚠️ Risks & questions
— Can EA break out of its dependence on a handful of sports IPs?
— Will a highly leveraged buyout pressure underperforming studios (esp. mobile)?
— How does the industry adapt as another major publisher disappears from public markets, reducing transparency?
💬 What do you think — smart long-term move for EA, or the end of an era of independence?
https://investgame.net/news/ea-exits-the-public-arena-in-record-55b-private-buyout/
Electronic Arts — the publisher behind FIFA/EA SPORTS FC, Madden, The Sims, Battlefield — is leaving public markets in a $55B all-cash buyout by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.
📊 Deal Terms
$210 per share in cash (~25% premium, $55B EV)
~$36B equity + $20B debt (J.P. Morgan financing)
Closing expected Q1 FY27
Andrew Wilson stays as CEO
⚽ Why it matters
For PIF, football is the crown jewel: EA SPORTS FC is the global interactive gateway to the world’s 1 sport. Add Madden + F1 and you’ve got dominance across U.S. and global sports.
For EA, this means freedom from quarterly Wall St. pressure, a chance to double down on live services, and space to take creative bets.
⚡ The bigger picture
This is now the largest all-cash private equity–backed take-private ever, second only to Microsoft’s $68.7B Activision deal in gaming.
It shows how sovereign and PE capital are turning gaming into a core asset class — treating franchises like EA SPORTS FC not just as games, but as cultural infrastructure.
Saudi is playing this masterfully, stitching together a global sports-entertainment empire (Scopely in mobile, Niantic, Inc. in AR, now EA at the center).
⚠️ Risks & questions
— Can EA break out of its dependence on a handful of sports IPs?
— Will a highly leveraged buyout pressure underperforming studios (esp. mobile)?
— How does the industry adapt as another major publisher disappears from public markets, reducing transparency?
💬 What do you think — smart long-term move for EA, or the end of an era of independence?
https://investgame.net/news/ea-exits-the-public-arena-in-record-55b-private-buyout/
InvestGame.net
EA Exits the Public Arena in Record $55B Private Buyout – InvestGame.net
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), one of the last major Western independent publishers in gaming, has agreed to be acquired via a $55B all-cash transaction by a con
Had a great time taking part in the Epic Games vs. Apple: The Legal Play Simulator at GDCy Executive Lounge.
Smart format, lively debate, and a fun way to rethink one of the industry’s most important cases.
Big thanks to the FUTURA Digital team for turning complex legal issues into something genuinely engaging — and to GDCy and Xsolla for making events like this happen in Cyprus!
P.S. I also love winning, and since we did, I liked the event even more.
Smart format, lively debate, and a fun way to rethink one of the industry’s most important cases.
Big thanks to the FUTURA Digital team for turning complex legal issues into something genuinely engaging — and to GDCy and Xsolla for making events like this happen in Cyprus!
P.S. I also love winning, and since we did, I liked the event even more.
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Touchdown in Türkiye next week 🇹🇷 — ready to dive into the country’s powerhouse gaming scene at Mobidictum!
If you’re around Istanbul on Oct 21, come find me on the Red Stage (Day 1, 14:30) — we’ll be talking where the money’s flowing, what investors really look for, and how publishers fit into the mix.
Let’s skip the small talk and get straight to the deals. 🚀
https://mobidictum.com/events/mobidictum-conference-2025/
If you’re around Istanbul on Oct 21, come find me on the Red Stage (Day 1, 14:30) — we’ll be talking where the money’s flowing, what investors really look for, and how publishers fit into the mix.
Let’s skip the small talk and get straight to the deals. 🚀
https://mobidictum.com/events/mobidictum-conference-2025/
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Straight outta Mobidictum to this. Not all of you know, but before games, I spent 5 years at MAXIM interviewing Hollywood actors and various musicians. Well, recently I got to dust off those skills.
Games. Metal. Mechs. What else do you really need in life?
Had the absolute pleasure of talking with the legendary Sabaton during their visit to our MY.GAMES office in beautiful Cyprus — right before the launch of the new War Robots x Sabaton collaboration.
The Fire Storm event (Oct 28–Dec 9) brings their new track A Tiger Among Dragons straight into the game’s hangar, alongside a themed visual overhaul inspired by the Legends album. It’s a perfect match — steel, fire, and battle.
As someone who loves both games and rock’n’roll, this one hit all the right notes. Huge congrats to Pixonic and MY.GAMES teams for pulling off such an authentic and loud partnership.
🤘 Long live heavy metal — and long live giant robots.
https://gameinformer.com/exclusive/2025/10/23/metal-band-sabaton-talks-collaboration-with-war-robots
Games. Metal. Mechs. What else do you really need in life?
Had the absolute pleasure of talking with the legendary Sabaton during their visit to our MY.GAMES office in beautiful Cyprus — right before the launch of the new War Robots x Sabaton collaboration.
The Fire Storm event (Oct 28–Dec 9) brings their new track A Tiger Among Dragons straight into the game’s hangar, alongside a themed visual overhaul inspired by the Legends album. It’s a perfect match — steel, fire, and battle.
As someone who loves both games and rock’n’roll, this one hit all the right notes. Huge congrats to Pixonic and MY.GAMES teams for pulling off such an authentic and loud partnership.
🤘 Long live heavy metal — and long live giant robots.
https://gameinformer.com/exclusive/2025/10/23/metal-band-sabaton-talks-collaboration-with-war-robots
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Back from Mobidictum Conference 2025 — always a pleasure to dive into real discussions about Türkiye’s booming gaming scene and where it’s headed next.
Big thanks to the organizers (and, obviously, Batuhan Avucan) for another smooth and well-run event, to my fellow panelists for the insights (Serkan Ünsal, Bekir Polat, and, of course, my dearest friend İsmet Gökşen), and to everyone who joined us in the room — great energy all around!
Until next time 👋
Big thanks to the organizers (and, obviously, Batuhan Avucan) for another smooth and well-run event, to my fellow panelists for the insights (Serkan Ünsal, Bekir Polat, and, of course, my dearest friend İsmet Gökşen), and to everyone who joined us in the room — great energy all around!
Until next time 👋
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🚀 From Streaks to Subnoscriptions: The $20.7B Gamified Apps Boom
Please welcome our first-ever InvestGame analysis of B2C gamified consumer apps (beyond pure gaming), which shows how progression mechanics—streaks, XP, leaderboards—now drive retention and monetization across EdTech, Fitness & Wellness, and Social Entertainment.
- $20.7B | 208 transactions (2020–2025 YTD) — EdTech (~40%), Fitness & Wellness (~37%), Entertainment & Social (~23%).
- Crossover moment: Non-gaming apps surpassed games in H1’25 IAP (~$41B vs ~$40B, +24% YoY, Sensor Tower).
- EdTech leads: $4.4B raised; major exits include Duolingo (+160% post-IPO), Kahoot! $1.7B, Busuu $400M.
- Fitness & Wellness scales: $2.4B invested; $5.2B in exits led by Fitbit (now part of Google) $2.1B and Headspace–Ginger $3B.
- Entertainment & Social experiments: $2.5B in exits via IPOs (Reddit, Inc., NetEase Cloud Music); early-stage innovation (Dashverse, GammaTime).
Gamification has evolved from a UX layer to a core monetization infrastructure. The next billion-dollar live-ops business might not be a game—it might be the app that turns progress into play.
Dive into the full feature (sponsored by $GDEV) + our Top-50 Gamified Deals Pack👇
And let us know what you think!
https://investgame.net/news/beyond-the-game-how-gamification-is-becoming-mainstream/
Please welcome our first-ever InvestGame analysis of B2C gamified consumer apps (beyond pure gaming), which shows how progression mechanics—streaks, XP, leaderboards—now drive retention and monetization across EdTech, Fitness & Wellness, and Social Entertainment.
- $20.7B | 208 transactions (2020–2025 YTD) — EdTech (~40%), Fitness & Wellness (~37%), Entertainment & Social (~23%).
- Crossover moment: Non-gaming apps surpassed games in H1’25 IAP (~$41B vs ~$40B, +24% YoY, Sensor Tower).
- EdTech leads: $4.4B raised; major exits include Duolingo (+160% post-IPO), Kahoot! $1.7B, Busuu $400M.
- Fitness & Wellness scales: $2.4B invested; $5.2B in exits led by Fitbit (now part of Google) $2.1B and Headspace–Ginger $3B.
- Entertainment & Social experiments: $2.5B in exits via IPOs (Reddit, Inc., NetEase Cloud Music); early-stage innovation (Dashverse, GammaTime).
Gamification has evolved from a UX layer to a core monetization infrastructure. The next billion-dollar live-ops business might not be a game—it might be the app that turns progress into play.
Dive into the full feature (sponsored by $GDEV) + our Top-50 Gamified Deals Pack👇
And let us know what you think!
https://investgame.net/news/beyond-the-game-how-gamification-is-becoming-mainstream/
InvestGame.net
Beyond the Game: How Gamification is Becoming Mainstream – InvestGame.net
Gamification has become the tech industry's favorite buzzword. Everyone cites Duolingo's streaks and Noom's retention loops—every consumer-oriented B2C app now
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It’s been a weird week in Cyprus — first the earthquakes, now the nonstop rain — so getting this nomination in the middle of all that feels a little surreal, but definitely a bright spot.
I’m excited and genuinely honored to share that I’ve been selected as one of the three finalists in the Gaming category for the 2nd Cyprus Business News Young Dragon Awards.
Public voting is now live, and if you’d like to support me and cast your vote for me, here's the link — https://cbn-dragonawards.com/vote/
Every vote really does count — the final decision is a 50/50 split between the public and the committee.
Wishing the best of luck to all the finalists, and especially to my fellow nominees in the Gaming category — Roman Gurskiy and Boris Burangulov. Great company to be in.
Thank you, and let the best Young Dragon win!
I’m excited and genuinely honored to share that I’ve been selected as one of the three finalists in the Gaming category for the 2nd Cyprus Business News Young Dragon Awards.
Public voting is now live, and if you’d like to support me and cast your vote for me, here's the link — https://cbn-dragonawards.com/vote/
Every vote really does count — the final decision is a 50/50 split between the public and the committee.
Wishing the best of luck to all the finalists, and especially to my fellow nominees in the Gaming category — Roman Gurskiy and Boris Burangulov. Great company to be in.
Thank you, and let the best Young Dragon win!
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Big thanks to Neil Long of mobilegamer.biz for the great piece on Türkiye’s mobile gaming rise — and for picking up that line from our Mobidictum panel earlier. Always fun (and a little surreal) to see your own words travel.
And hats off to Batuhan Avucan and the entire Mobidictum team for building an event that really captures the pace and ambition of the Turkish scene. Every year, it gets more focused and more energetic!
Great article, great event, and a perfect snapshot of why Türkiye keeps setting the tempo for mobile gaming.
https://mobilegamer.biz/the-secret-of-turkiyes-success-is-not-a-secret-at-all/
And hats off to Batuhan Avucan and the entire Mobidictum team for building an event that really captures the pace and ambition of the Turkish scene. Every year, it gets more focused and more energetic!
Great article, great event, and a perfect snapshot of why Türkiye keeps setting the tempo for mobile gaming.
https://mobilegamer.biz/the-secret-of-turkiyes-success-is-not-a-secret-at-all/
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🇸🇪 Sweden’s Gaming Capital Reset — and Why the Creative Engine Never Stalled
We’ve just published Feature 16 at InvestGame, and it’s one of my favorite deep dives this year.
Some numbers that really matter:
• $19.2B across 362 gaming transactions (2014–2025)
• ~20% of Steam’s 2025 gross revenue came from Swedish developers
• 5 of Steam’s global top-10 bestsellers (2024–2025) shipped out of Sweden
• 1,100+ game companies clustered around Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg
• Europe’s №2 producer of gaming unicorns per capita
What makes Sweden fascinating isn’t scale — it’s hit density. While public-market roll-ups boomed (and later reset hard), Swedish studios just kept shipping global hits across PC, console, and mobile.
The feature breaks down:
• How Nasdaq First North functioned as growth capital for gaming
• Why the roll-up / multiple-arbitrage model peaked in the zero-rate era
• What the 2023–2025 reset really changed (and what it didn’t)
• Why creative ecosystems compound longer than capital structures
Despite restructurings, divestments, and balance-sheet repair, the creative core never blinked. This ecosystem has quietly outperformed louder, better-funded markets for decades — and it’s still doing it.
Huge thanks to Alinea Analytics for the data and my dear friend and new Cyprus neighbor, Phillip Black, for the sharp feedback and economic sanity checks throughout.
Feature is live now (sponsored by Nexters ($GDEV)): https://investgame.net/news/feature/the-rise-and-reset-of-sweden-s-19b-gaming-capital-machine/
As we wrap up the year, this felt like the perfect reminder going into the holidays: cycles reset, but great studios keep compounding.
Wishing everyone in the industry a proper break, good people around you, and a strong start to 2026 🎄✨
We’ve just published Feature 16 at InvestGame, and it’s one of my favorite deep dives this year.
Some numbers that really matter:
• $19.2B across 362 gaming transactions (2014–2025)
• ~20% of Steam’s 2025 gross revenue came from Swedish developers
• 5 of Steam’s global top-10 bestsellers (2024–2025) shipped out of Sweden
• 1,100+ game companies clustered around Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg
• Europe’s №2 producer of gaming unicorns per capita
What makes Sweden fascinating isn’t scale — it’s hit density. While public-market roll-ups boomed (and later reset hard), Swedish studios just kept shipping global hits across PC, console, and mobile.
The feature breaks down:
• How Nasdaq First North functioned as growth capital for gaming
• Why the roll-up / multiple-arbitrage model peaked in the zero-rate era
• What the 2023–2025 reset really changed (and what it didn’t)
• Why creative ecosystems compound longer than capital structures
Despite restructurings, divestments, and balance-sheet repair, the creative core never blinked. This ecosystem has quietly outperformed louder, better-funded markets for decades — and it’s still doing it.
Huge thanks to Alinea Analytics for the data and my dear friend and new Cyprus neighbor, Phillip Black, for the sharp feedback and economic sanity checks throughout.
Feature is live now (sponsored by Nexters ($GDEV)): https://investgame.net/news/feature/the-rise-and-reset-of-sweden-s-19b-gaming-capital-machine/
As we wrap up the year, this felt like the perfect reminder going into the holidays: cycles reset, but great studios keep compounding.
Wishing everyone in the industry a proper break, good people around you, and a strong start to 2026 🎄✨
InvestGame.net
The Rise and Reset of Sweden’s $19B Gaming Capital Machine – InvestGame.net
Feature sponsored by $GDEV Sweden accounts for roughly 20% of Steam’s 2025 gross revenue and, in the 2024–2025 release window, Swedish developers delivered fiv
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