Experts look forward to EA's prospects after acquisition: There will be no change in the short term

2025-10-04 21:45:09|Myriagame |source：minecraft skins

EA's leveraged takeover will allow private equity firms and Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund to take control of the large issuer for $55 billion and put it on $20 billion in debt.The acquisition left everyone wondering what the new owner would do about EA.

As gaming industry analyst Matt Piscatra said this week, no one can really know the answer, but the guess we heard from analysts and corporate finance experts is that EA's new owners are unlikely to bring big changes in the near term and are likely to make the move you expected - focusing on existing service-oriented profitable projects while paying off $20 billion in debt.

DBD Investment Bank managing director Philip Albestat believes that the newly added debt on EA's balance sheet will not lead to its bankruptcy dilemma of Toys R-style.

“EA can generate about $7.5 billion in revenue per year through series such as Apex Heroes, Battlefield and FIFA, which is now renamed to EA Sports FC,” Albestat said. “This cash flow gives EA a practical ability to repay $20 billion in debt. People always use Toys R Us as an analogy, but in fact, Toys R Us was a declining retailer at the time. EA has a sustainable source of revenue through its multi-platform service-oriented business.”

Philipsia Xu, general partner of investment firm Play Ventures, pointed out that in addition to sports games, getting rid of public investors' oversight "theoretically provides EA with breathing space and promote innovation in new intellectual property rights and new works."But Newzoo's director of market intelligence, Emmanuel Rosier, who was a former EA strategist, also pointed out that "industry integration often leads to more cautious product portfolio management."

“Distributions may increase their investment in mature series rather than risking on experimental projects, which may narrow the creative output channels,” Rosier wrote in a recent newsletter about the acquisition.

Industry integration and the subsequent layoffs and studio closures have become the main themes of the gaming industry in the 1920s - Microsoft, embracer and other companies have acquired studios everywhere.Rosier said the trend will "create more opportunities to make a comeback" for AA studios and independent developers.Albestat also holds the same view, saying that the gaming industry is "entering a new stage, and leading companies need huge amounts of funds to participate in the competition", and therefore will be more risk-averse.

“In the future, the integration of industry heads will intensify, but focus studios will also gain more space – they can do things that big publishers can’t do: take risks for new ideas,” Albestat said of the future of the gaming industry. “The industry is not going to decline, but is dividing into two different models. One is capital-intensive masterpiece, the other is creative independent development. Both can thrive. The question is whether industry integration will leave enough acquirers in the market when these independent studios are ready to seek a sale (out of the market).

When it comes to areas where large publishers of the commerce ventures take risks and which areas are not, BioWare is in a precarious situation.EA had previously tried to get the troubled role-playing game studio to create a popular service game with The Anthem, but failed.And it is hard to imagine that this studio, which upholds progressive political philosophy and creates Mass Effect and Dragon Age, can flourish under the control of Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia.The staff at the studio were worried about this.

Felicia Xu said that judging from the case of Saudi Arabia's acquisition of mobile game developer Scopely, EA may be allowed to operate independently "in the short and medium term."But she added that the issuer still faces challenges in the future – it needs to balance the needs of the three major owners: “I think the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will hope to create some jobs for the Saudi market.”

In Rosier's view, compared with the sports games at the core, "the future of "Battlefield", "The Sims", "Apex Heroes", "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age" is even more unclear."“These IPs may be streamlined, split and separate, or reorganized through collaboration — depending on how new owners evaluate their profitability and growth potential, as well as product portfolio decisions after the deal is completed,” he said.

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