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acquired

EA privately acquired in $55bn deal by group of investors, including Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and Donald Trump’s son-in-law

by admin September 30, 2025

EA has officially been acquired by a group of investors including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a private transaction worth $55bn.

EA chairman and CEO Andrew Wilson will continue to lead the company – known for its sports games, BioWare’s RPGs, The Sims, and forthcoming shooter Battlefield 6 – with the transaction expected to be completed in Q1 FY27.

News of the acquisition came over the weekend, before an official announcement today. The investor group comprises the PIF, as well as investment firms Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to push the boundaries of entertainment, sports, and technology, unlocking new opportunities. Together with our partners, we will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come. I am more energised than ever about the future we are building.”

“Electronic Arts is an extraordinary company with a world-class management team and a bold vision for the future. I’ve admired their ability to create iconic, lasting experiences, and as someone who grew up playing their games – and now enjoys them with his kids – I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead,” said Jared Kushner, CEO of Affinity Partners. Kushner is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

PIF increased its stake in EA in 2023; now its 9.9 percent stake will roll over. The organisation also holds stakes in a number of gaming companies including Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive, Embracer, Capcom, and more.

Ubisoft is another, with Assassin’s Creed Mirage set to receive a surprise free DLC set in 9th century AlUla, an ancient Arabian city. The DLC follows reported funding from PIF.

The PIF was designed to diversify Saudi Arabia’s revenue via investment in foreign companies. It’s chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s controversial ruler blamed by the CIA for the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has upheld the country’s notoriously poor human rights record.

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September 30, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Electronic Arts Is Being Acquired For $55 Billion And Will Go Private

by admin September 29, 2025

Electronic Arts is being acquired for $55 billion by an investor consortium consisting of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. The all-cash transaction sees this collective absorb 100 percent of the publisher, effectively taking the company private.

The transaction is the largest all-cash sponsor take-private investment in history, said to “accelerate innovation and growth to build the future of entertainment,” according to a press release. The deal was approved by the EA’s board of directors and is expected to close during Q1 of the 2027 fiscal year, pending customary regulatory approvals.

Once the acquisition is complete, EA will stay headquartered in Redwood City, California, and Andrew Wilson will remain CEO. Stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash, representing a 25 percent premium to the unaffected share price ($168.32 at market close on September 25, 2025). Following the acquisition, EA’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.

“Our creative and passionate teams at EA have delivered extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans, built some of the world’s most iconic IP, and created significant value for our business. This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work,” said Andrew Wilson in a press release. “Looking ahead, we will continue to push the boundaries of entertainment, sports, and technology, unlocking new opportunities. Together with our partners, we will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come. I am more energized than ever about the future we are building.”

Battlefield 6

The acquisition group, dubbed “The Consortium,” consists of three companies. First is the PIF, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The PIF has expanded its reach into the video game industry through its Savvy Games Group, an entity founded in 2021. In the last four years, the PIF has purchased stakes in gaming companies such as Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, Capcom, Embracer Group, and Nexon. The Savvy Games Group also owns American mobile gaming company Scopley, and earlier this year, announced plans to acquire the game division of Pokémon Go developer Niantic. The PIF had an existing stake in EA before its full acquisition of the company.

The second company is Silver Lake, a multi-billion-dollar global technology investment firm based in North America, Europe, and Asia. Lastly, Affinity Partners is a Miami-based investment firm founded in 2021 by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, who once served as White House senior advisor during Trump’s first term.

The Consortium states it will “bring deep sector experience, committed capital, and global portfolios with networks across gaming, entertainment, and sports that offer unique possibilities for EA to blend physical and digital experiences, enhance fan engagement, and create new growth opportunities.”

Madden NFL 26

The acquisition comes as EA gears up for the October 10 launch of Battlefield 6, which is shaping up to be its biggest release of the year. EA’s portfolio of upcoming titles also includes Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, next year’s Star Wars Zero Company, and more distant projects such as the next Mass Effect, a third Star Wars Jedi title, and Motive Studios’ Iron Man.

It also comes after two years of massive layoffs across EA. In February 2024, EA laid off over 600 employees. Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment suffered cuts this past April, which resulted in two project cancellations. In May, EA closed Cliffhanger Games, canceling the studio’s in-development Black Panther game.

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September 29, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

CleanCore Solutions Has Acquired 500M DOGE Tokens In Four Days.

by admin September 12, 2025

CleanCore Solutions, a maker of aqueous ozone cleaning systems, has reached the halfway point of its 1 billion Dogecoin treasury target after buying $130 million in DOGE on Thursday.

In an announcement on Thursday, Cleancore said it has now crossed over 500 million Dogecoin (DOGE). It had just bought 285.42 million DOGE on Monday and had previously stated that it intends to purchase 1 billion tokens in total within the next 30 days.

CleanCore Solutions aims to hold 5% of DOGE’s circulating supply in the long term. Source: CleanCore Solutions

“Crossing the 500 million DOGE threshold demonstrates the speed and scale at which ZONE is executing its treasury strategy,” said CleanCore’s chief investment officer, Marco Margiotta.

Margiotta is also the CEO of House of Doge, the commercial arm of the Dogecoin Foundation.

Margiotta further added that the company intends to “establish Dogecoin as a premier reserve asset while supporting its broader utility across payments, tokenization, staking-like products, and global remittances.”

CleanCore Solutions was the first publicly traded company to establish a DOGE treasury in partnership with the Dogecoin Foundation and House of Doge.

On Sept. 3, the company announced it will raise $175 million via private placement, with the proceeds being used to buy DOGE for its treasury. The announcement caused CleanCore Solutions’ stock to crater by 60%.

The company successfully closed its private placement two days later on Sept. 5.

CleanCore DOGE buy comes as DOGE is up nearly 23% in the past seven days, according to CoinGecko.

CleanCore rallies 12% in after-hours trading

Shares of CleanCore Solutions (ZONE) ended Thursday’s trading session at $3.98, down 0.25%; however, the stock rallied 11.81% during the after-hours trading session to end at $4.45, according to Google Finance.

Despite the recent price swings, ZONE is up 201.52% year-to-date.

For the June quarter, the company announced its revenue was up 26% year-on-year, while its net profit margin was down 229% during the same period.

First DOGE ETF delayed

Rex-Osprey Doge ETF (DOJE), the first spot DOGE exchange-traded fund, was set to launch on Thursday.

Related: How high can DOGE price go when a Dogecoin ETF is approved?

However, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas announced that it has been delayed to Friday.

On a Thursday X post, Balchunas said DOJE has been further delayed and will now launch sometime next week, speculating a Thursday launch.

Magazine: Thailand’s ‘Big Secret’ crypto hack, Chinese developer’s RWA tokens: Asia Express

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September 12, 2025 0 comments

These PC systems were more than slightly overpriced

Gaming Gear

$175,000 computer server package acquired by mayor flagged as suspicious due to an apparent 1,300% markup

by admin August 31, 2025

A recently elected mayor has brought to light a costly computer systems deal, which was signed, sealed, and delivered by their predecessor. On her Facebook page, Mayor Sally A. Lopez shares photos and documents confirming that her predecessor acquired a “10 million System Server Package.” Assuming we are talking Philippine pesos, that’s equivalent to about USD $175,000. However, the 16 systems look bargain-basement – at best – being based on old Intel 11th Generation processors, with generic case and power choices. According to our calculations, someone appears to have enjoyed a 1,300% markup.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Mayor Sally A. Lopez )(Image credit: Mayor Sally A. Lopez )

The implications of the new mayor’s post seem pretty straightforward. Perhaps they were elected on a platform of cleaning up corruption. Signing off on a computer server deal for significantly more than the expected cost indicates that the previous mayor’s team was either uninformed or perhaps shared in some part of the profits. Neither conclusion is reasonable.

Our calculations

We performed some quick calculations to estimate the cost of a 16-computer package with similar components (based on Intel Core i7-11700 CPU, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD key specs). We scoured Newegg for these and the other necessary hardware components to create a basic setup. Additionally, we note that the ‘package’ included items such as 16 monitors, sets of input peripherals, and UPS systems. There wasn’t any mention of software.

Newegg U.S. prices
$320 (CPU) + $100 (mobo) + $40 (RAM) + $40 (storage) + $70 (PSU) + $40 (case) + $60 (UPS) + $100 (monitor) + $25 (keyboard/mouse set) = $775
For sixteen such systems, we come to a $12,400 total.

There’s a lot of room for error in our math, and indications suggest that some of these PCs may have come with HDDs, as well as (or instead of) SSDs. There’s also the question of software. But there’s also a very long way to go to reach the equivalent of $175,000. We cannot find anything in the pictures or documents to justify the total price being multiplied by 14.

Intel’s 11th Generation processors for desktop PCs debuted in 2021, yet samples like the Core i7-11700, which appear to be what the sixteen PCs are spec’d with, seem to be overpriced in our U.S.-based Newegg findings. They’re even costlier than Intel’s i7-12700 CPUs for some reason. We’d expect the PC systems supplier in the Philippines to have steered customers towards the Core i7-11700 CPUs, as they were a bargain or surplus processor at the time.

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August 31, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Ethereum Whales Buy Dip With $200 Million in ETH Acquired

by admin August 19, 2025

With Ethereum joining Bitcoin to lead the broad crypto market downturn, the altcoin has seen its price plunge deeper over the past days.

However, whale activity on the coin appears to remain on the high side as data from Arkham Intelligence firm shows two whales loading up heavily on Ethereum.

The data shows that two newly created whale addresses have collectively acquired approximately $200 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) in a single purchase, sparking discussions across the crypto community.

The transaction saw Ethereum birthing new whales despite the market slump, as the source revealed that the fresh wallets acquired about $192 million in ETH from BitGo, a renowned crypto trading platform and liquidity provider.

Despite the negative price trend witnessed today, large holders of Ethereum have shown resilience, aggressively stacking up on the asset despite massive price losses.

Ethereum whales continue buying spree

Recent whale activities witnessed across the crypto market show that Ethereum has become the center of attraction among high-profile investors and institutional investors, as Ethereum is seen outshining Bitcoin in whale activities.

Although the massive ETH purchases made by the single entity have sparked market reactions, it is just one of the numerous whale transactions involving ETH that were recorded today. This validates speculations that whales might be taking over the Ethereum ecosystem.

While the broad crypto market downturn has seen market investors take caution and slow down on their crypto purchases, it appears that Ethereum whales are still positive about the asset’s potential as recent buy activities show that whales are relentlessly buying the dip on the asset.