99% of EA Shareholders Just Sold Your Childhood for $55 Billion

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Written By NLM Team

It is official: the company that invented the loot box is now owned by one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds on the planet.

The vote happened on December 22, and it wasn't even close. According to a filing spotted by TweakTown, a staggering 99% of Electronic Arts shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition. That is 201 million votes for the deal and only 1.9 million against it. When you offer investors a 25% premium on their stock ($210 per share), moral quandaries tend to evaporate pretty quickly.

This $55 billion deal effectively takes EA private. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will hold a massive 93% stake in the publisher, meaning the people paying for FIFA packs are now directly funding the vision of the Kingdom.

The "Creative Freedom" Spin

Whenever a massive buyout happens, the executives trot out the same tired line about how this is actually good for creativity. Glu Mobile CEO Nick Earl has already praised the move, claiming that privatization will give EA the "freedom" to plan for the next decade without worrying about quarterly earnings calls.

I will believe it when I see it.

Andrew Wilson is staying on as CEO, which means the leadership strategy isn't changing. If anything, having a nearly unlimited bankroll might just encourage them to double down on the live-service models that make them billions while ignoring the risky, single-player experiences that actually push the medium forward. They don't have to answer to Wall Street anymore, but they definitely have to answer to their new owners.

BioWare Is Sweating Bullets

While the sports division is probably popping champagne, the mood at BioWare has to be grim. The studio has struck out three times in a row with Mass Effect: Andromeda, the disaster that was Anthem, and the recently poorly-selling Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

When a company goes private, "efficiency" becomes the buzzword. The new owners aren't going to look kindly on a boutique studio that burns cash for five years only to release a flop. If the next Mass Effect doesn't land perfectly, I wouldn't be surprised to see the studio chopped up for parts.

The New Reality

Electronic Arts is no longer a public company beholden to the whims of the NASDAQ. It is a private entity owned by a foreign government. For the average gamer, nothing changes tomorrow. You will still buy Madden, you will still complain about the servers, and you will still pre-order the next Battlefield. But make no mistake, the landscape has shifted. The biggest independent publisher in the West just cashed out.

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NLM Team
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