In 1999, a programmer named Patrick Barrett joined the video game studio Maxis to help develop the video game that would become The Sims. Working from an out-of-date design handbook, he coded the game to allow for same-sex relationships-even though the studio initially decided not to include queer relationships for fear of backlash. The game was demoed to press with a wedding scene at E3 1999, and during the demo two female Sims kissed.
Battlefield and Madden NFL developer agrees to sell itself in a deal that would be the largest leveraged buyout in history. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, an investment company run by the son-in-law of the United States president, and a California-based private equity firm have bought gaming industry giant Electronic Arts (EA) in the largest leveraged buyout in history worth $55bn.
"All public AAA companies have overemphasized 'returning value to shareholders' over taking care of all stakeholder groups, including labor," he said. "Now, that will be shifted to keeping the company afloat amidst enormous debt payments and servicing [private equity] owners."
After reports sprouted up last week that Electronic Arts, the publisher behind , BioWare's catalog, and most of your favorite sports games, was being acquired for over $50 billion in a joint venture between Saudi Arabia's Private Investor Fund, Silver Lake, and the Jared Kushner-owned Affinity Partners, the company has officially confirmed the deal . If approved, the acquisition would be one of the most expensive in the history of the video game industry and would make Electronic Arts a privately held company.
This summer, everyone wanted a striker. First, Chelsea signed Liam Delap from Ipswich Town and João Pedro from Brighton. Then Arsenal signed Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting CP, and Liverpool signed Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. Then Liverpool tried to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle, before he publicly stated he no longer wants to play for Newcastle. Except, Newcastle were about to sign Ekitike, a strikingly similar player to Isak, until Liverpool jumped in.
