Why the EA Buyout Isn’t Good for Game Development

Electronic Arts’ $55 billion buyout by a private consortium - led in part by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund - might sound like a chance for creative rebirth. No more quarterly shareholder pressure. No more short-term thinking. But in reality, the structure and incentives behind this deal point toward even less innovation, and more of what’s already been draining the life out of AAA game development for years...