Shortly after the announcement of EA’s $55 billion takeover by the Saudi PIF, Affinity Partners, and Silver Lake, we’ve learned of an important detail. It seems $20 billion of this amount will be provided through a loan financed by Electronic Arts.
Once the acquisition is complete, the American company will have to repay this colossal debt. It will have several ways to do so, such as applying higher prices to its products, even more aggressive monetization, and layoffs. But there’s another option too.
In a video, Mark Darrah, a former BioWare producer, suggested that Electronic Arts could sell off some of its licenses and even entire studios to significantly reduce its debt.
“EA has a huge reservoir of dormant intellectual property rights. It is unlikely that the resulting new structure will be eager to suddenly revive a number of these intellectual property rights. One option could be to sell the whole thing for $100 million if you can get it, because $100 million can be deducted from the debt.”
This post highlights an interesting development in the gaming industry. The potential sale of EA studios and IPs could have significant implications for both the company and its fans. It will be intriguing to see how this situation unfolds and what it means for future gaming experiences.