The future of play
Media is one giant war for attention, and gaming is winning.
That’s why this morning’s news about Electronic Arts is so significant. A group of investors led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is taking EA private in an all-cash deal that values EA at around $55 billion. Egon Durban’s Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners are the other key players in the consortium.
“We are going to invest heavily to grow the business,” Durban said in a statement, pledging “incredible experiences to players and fans across generations.”
Year after year, video games become an increasingly vital and valuable part of the culture — witness Roblox, the “Minecraft” movie, and the new Nintendo Switch 2. Gaming is increasingly about self-expression and communication, not just beating a level or winning a prize.
But the industry itself has been “sluggish” in some ways, Reuters notes, “as gamers get picky with spending.” While EA prepares for its next huge launch, “Battlefield 6,” next month, “young generations of players are embracing mobile and free-to-play games, and moving away from the type of expensive, blockbuster franchises that EA has long been known for producing,” the NYT’s Lauren Hirsch and Mike Isaac wrote here.
EA’s new owners are likely to rewrite the company’s business model, free from the pressures of quarterly earnings reports and impatient shareholders.
>> For more on the state of play (get it?) I highly recommend Bain’s “Gaming Report 2025.” Bain’s findings will get you thinking about how gaming impacts entertainment, social media and journalism…
About the Saudi wealth fund… |
The WSJ, which broke the news of this looming deal last Friday, says it’s being billed as “the largest private-equity backed buyout in history.” If you’re curious about the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s involvement, Reuters has some helpful context here: “Analysts believe PIF’s interest in EA stems from its highly recognizable sports portfolio which includes the widely popular soccer franchise ‘FC,’ which has a strong appeal worldwide and carries robust revenue potential.” >> “For Saudi Arabia’s PIF, the deal would cement games as cultural infrastructure — assets as critical to global influence as sports or film,” Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU Stern School of Business, told the wire… |
The government shutdown cable news countdown clocks are back. “The showdown ahead of a Tuesday night deadline is about far more than the classic feud over how the government spends its money,” CNN’s Stephen Collinson writes this morning, noting that it’s part of “a wider narrative of whether a rampant president can be slowed or stopped on any issue.” Meantime, readers are looking for answers to questions, as illustrated by today’s front page of Stars & Stripes: |
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Cops open probe after reporter says ICE fired chemical at her |
Police officers in Broadview, Illinois, just outside Chicago, are investigating “an allegedly unprovoked attack on a CBS Chicago TV news reporter’s vehicle by a chemical munition fired from the direction of U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility.” The reporter, Asal Rezaei, said she was alone at the time, and there was no active protest going on, when a “masked ICE agent” shot “a pepper ball” into her truck. She said she threw up due to the chemical. CBS Chicago is covering the incident thoroughly on air and online. >> “CBS News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security but has yet to hear back.” |
Comcast goes with co-CEOs |
Comcast says the company’s president Michael Cavanagh is becoming co-CEO alongside Brian Roberts, effective in January. “Cavanagh has long been considered heir apparent to Roberts by industry insiders,” CNBC’s story notes… |
Later today Jimmy Kimmel will kick off a week of shows filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music rather than his usual Hollywood theater, with guests including Spike Lee, Tom Hanks, and, on Tuesday night… Stephen Colbert. “What we have to do now is stay on the move so the FCC can’t get us,” Kimmel quipped last week. >> Late-night crossover: Kimmel will also be a guest on Colbert’s show Tuesday night. >> Andrew Kirell writes: It’s likely just a coincidence, but notable still that three nights of Kimmel’s Brooklyn run will feature guests who have been caught up in speech-related controversies. Tonight’s musical guest will be Public Enemy, the politically charged hip-hop group that was often subject to radio bans and MTV blacklisting. Tuesday is Colbert — and we all know what happened there. And then, on Thursday, the top guest is Bruce Springsteen, who was personally threatened by Trump earlier this year after repeatedly criticizing the president while on tour. |
Trump shares ‘medbed’ fake |
What was he thinking? That’s the great unknown after Trump shared a very clearly AI-generated video of himself declaring in a fake Fox News segment that “every American will soon receive their own ‘medbed card.’” The “medbed,” as CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Donie O’Sullivan report, is a pseudo-scientific fantasy device that can supposedly cure diseases and regrow lost limbs. It’s part of a QAnon conspiracy theory that “deep state” elites are secretly using these beds and hiding them from everyone else. Trump’s Truth Social repost was deleted after it drew ridicule on other social media sites. But the fact that he posted it at all is the story. Whether he is sharing a “medbed” fantasy that he sees in his social media feed, or calling Portland “war-ravaged” based on what he’s shown on TV, the issue is the same: Trump’s faulty sources of info are doing him a disservice. |
Utah governor’s ‘60 Min’ closeup |
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was the subject of the first piece on last night’s season premiere of “60 Minutes.” Cox talked about his quest to convince people to “stop hating our fellow Americans,” and why social media makes the hatred so much worse. The algorithms “are absolutely destroying us,” he said. “Once they know what your political leanings are, then it’s like a pack of wolves that just attack. We have this collective problem… that we can’t solve because we’re all sucked in, and we don’t know how to get out.” Here’s the segment… >> “60 Minutes” also interviewed UFC boss Dana White, with a caveat that “this profile was in the works before Paramount Skydance recently paid almost $8 billion for the UFC’s media rights.” |
‘Very disturbing consolidation’ |
NBC’s “Sunday Today” highlighted how Trump’s pending TikTok deal “gives control of [the] platform to media moguls,” with several caveats about the still unknowns. It remains to be seen “what the leadership of the company will look like, and if they could have any editorial influence,” correspondent Savannah Sellers said. She spoke with media critic Jeff Jarvis, who said, “We’re seeing a very disturbing consolidation of American mass media in the hands of big business… that is politically related to the administration.” |
👀 Instagram is mostly a video app now |
When Instagram announced its 3-billion-user milestone the other day, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri sat down with Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner for a broader look at the state of the business. This stat popped out: More than 50% of the time spent on Instagram “comes from people watching videos, and most of those videos are recommended to users from outside the network of accounts they follow.” So, yes, the app is going to keep becoming more and more like TikTok… >> Also of note: “Private messaging is the most popular way people share on the app, followed by disappearing Stories…”
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>> New this morning: WaPo Opinion editor Adam O’Neal has given his first interview to… Fox’s Joseph Wulfsohn. (Fox) >> A federal judge has “dismissed several charges against Tampa media consultant Tim Burke, citing free speech violations — a ruling that greatly reduced the number of charges he faced after his unauthorized obtaining of video files from Fox News.” (Tampa Bay Times) >> CNN en Español is mourning the death of Javier Merino, who managed PR for the network from Mexico City and also covered entertainment news on the air and online. (Infobae) >> Correction: In Sunday’s edition, I linked to the must-read NYT story about Amy Griffin but only included one of the two bylines. Katie Rosman and Elisabeth Egan co-authored the report. Apologies to both! (NYT) |
The ‘Battle’ begins at #1 |
”Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, ‘One Battle After Another,’ easily takes the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office,” with “an expected global cume of $48.5 million” so far, THR’s Pamela McClintock writes. The film has a long, long way to go to break even, but “is likely to generate press and word-of-mouth for many months.” I’m going to see it just as soon as I can this week… |
Hollywood notes and quotes |
>> Bad Bunny was announced as the Super Bowl LX halftime show performer during “Sunday Night Football” last night, Sandra Gonzalez and Karina Tsui report. (CNN) >> Cardi B has scored “her second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as ‘AM I THE DRAMA?’ debuts atop the tally.” (Billboard) >> Dolly Parton has postponed her Vegas residency due to “health challenges” that will require her to “undergo a few procedures.” Get well soon, Dolly! (Instagram) |