The $55 Billion Elephant in the Room: Saudi Arabia’s EA Acquisition Gets EU Green Light
July 26, 2026
If you thought the gaming industry couldn’t get any wilder after a year of mass layoffs, studio closures, and console price hikes, buckle up. This week delivered one of the most consequential seven-day stretches in gaming history, with a landmark $55 billion acquisition clearing its final major regulatory hurdle, a beloved franchise getting a secret sequel tease, and the industry’s shift away from physical media accelerating at breakneck speed. Let’s break down everything you need to know.
The European Union’s approval of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquiring Electronic Arts for a staggering $55 billion isn’t just gaming news — it’s one of the largest corporate acquisitions in any industry, period. The European Commission confirmed the buyout passed standard merger review without competition concerns, effectively clearing the final major regulatory barrier for what is now the largest private leveraged buyout in history. EA shareholders already approved the deal in December 2025, and with EU sign-off, the path is essentially clear for completion.
But this isn’t just about money. The acquisition — which also involves Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the latter led by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump — has drawn fierce criticism from human rights organizations and gaming industry unions alike. Human Rights Watch has characterized Saudi Arabia’s aggressive gaming investments as “sportswashing,” pointing to the country’s documented human rights abuses and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Communications Workers of America filed a formal petition with regulators and wrote to the US Federal Trade Commission asking for intervention. None of it was enough to stop the deal’s momentum.
What does this mean for EA’s future? The publisher behind FIFA (now FC), Apex Legends, Battlefield, and the Mass Effect franchise will now operate under ownership that has already snapped up significant stakes in Nintendo, Take-Two, Capcom, and Nexon. The implications for game development, studio culture, and the competitive landscape are enormous — and we’re only beginning to understand them.
Halo 2 Remake Teased in Campaign Evolved’s Secret Ending
Halo Studios has pulled a classic Bungie-era move, hiding a secret ending in Halo: Campaign Evolved that all but confirms a Halo 2 remake is on the way. Players who complete the campaign on Legendary difficulty — the series’ notorious hardest mode — are treated to a scene of Sergeant Avery Johnson on a beachhead, boarding a Pelican before turning to the camera and delivering the line: “See you in the sequel.”
But that’s not all. Every player, regardless of difficulty, gets a post-credits scene featuring the insufferable 343 Guilty Spark flying through space toward a distant planet — a direct setup for the opening of Halo 2. The tease aligns perfectly with what observant fans have suspected since early marketing: Halo Studios has been building assets that are clearly designed for Halo 2, including SMGs, battle rifles, hijackable vehicles, and the Brutes themselves.
Campaign Evolved, currently in early access ahead of its full launch on July 28, has been generally well-received. The remake reimagines the original 2001 Halo: Combat Evolved using Unreal Engine, and early impressions suggest Halo Studios’ design philosophy may actually suit the later games even better. As the franchise moves from tightly-designed combat puzzles to the more free-flowing action sandboxes of Halo 2 and 3, the prospect of those remakes becomes increasingly exciting.
However, enthusiasm is tempered by the broader context at Microsoft. The company recently announced 3,200 job cuts across its gaming division, closed multiple studios including impacts at id Software, and cancelled announced projects like Everwild and Perfect Dark. As one remaining employee warned: “Nobody feels safe.” Whether Halo Studios’ flagship status will protect it remains an open question.
God of War Laufey Gets February 2027 Release Date at San Diego Comic-Con
Sony and Santa Monica Studio used San Diego Comic-Con to drop the release date everyone’s been waiting for: God of War Laufey arrives on PS5 on February 16, 2027. The announcement came during a panel where director Cory Barlog described the game as a continuation that will “enter the afterlife of the gods,” expanding the Norse mythology saga in unexpected directions.
Laufey has been one of the most talked-about games since its reveal at this year’s record-breaking State of Play. The surprise? Players won’t control Kratos — instead, the spotlight falls on Faye, Kratos’s late wife, in a story that explores the world before the events of 2018’s God of War reboot. Actress Deborah Ann Woll, known from Daredevil and True Blood, takes on the lead role, and she’s been refreshingly candid about the backlash the reveal generated.
“I’m totally unbothered by it,” Woll said of the negative fan reaction, “because I know it’s great.” The idea for a Faye-centered game was apparently pitched as far back as 2018, nearly a decade before it will actually reach players’ hands.
The February 2027 date is significant for another reason: Sony has confirmed that all PlayStation releases from January 2028 onward will be digital-only, as the company kills physical disc manufacturing entirely. Laufey will be available on disc — making it one of the last major first-party titles to offer that option. And for those hoping for a PC port? Don’t hold your breath. Sony has confirmed it no longer intends to release non-live-service single-player games on PC, meaning Laufey will remain a PS5 exclusive for the foreseeable future.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Hits 3.5 Million Sales in Two Weeks
Ubisoft desperately needed a win, and Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced delivered. The remake, developed by Vantage Studios, has sold over 3.5 million copies in just 14 days, “exceeding annual expectations within its first two weeks” according to Ubisoft’s latest financial report. The game previously hit 2 million sales in its opening days and 3 million within a week, showing remarkable sustained momentum.
Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft’s co-founder and CEO, praised the title as “the highest-rated Assassin’s Creed title since the original Black Flag” and pointed to it as proof of the brand’s “enduring appeal.” The strong launch is a rare bright spot for the troubled publisher, whose Q1 net bookings reached €256 million — down 9% year-on-year, though slightly above guidance.
The financial report wasn’t all roses, though. Guillemot’s corporate-speak about “targeted rightsizing actions” and “reconcentration of resources” masks a brutal reality: Ubisoft has undergone three rounds of layoffs in 2026 alone. The company closed its Halifax and Stockholm studios earlier this year, laid off over 100 staff at Red Storm Entertainment in March, and recently cut jobs at Ubisoft Barcelona — triggering staff strikes. Around 380 jobs are expected to be lost in the latest restructuring wave. Christoph Hartmann has been appointed to lead “Creative House 2,” focused on building “battlefield-driven experiences,” suggesting Ubisoft is betting hard on military shooters going forward.
Meanwhile, the publisher’s idle squad RPG Invincible: Guarding the Globe has apparently been a quiet revenue powerhouse, described as delivering “record performance” and helping offset weaker results elsewhere in the portfolio.
Xbox Tests Ad-Supported Game Streaming as Hardware Costs Spiral
Microsoft has begun testing an ad-supported game streaming service through its Xbox Insider program, and the implications are significant. The test allows players to stream select games from their library for free in one-hour sessions, with advertisements playing before each session begins. Xbox is positioning this as an accessibility initiative, noting that it allows players with older hardware like the Xbox One to play Xbox Series X/S games via the cloud.
“That can be especially meaningful in places where consoles are harder to find or less affordable, giving more players another way to access great games on devices they already have,” the official blog post reads. And there’s truth to that — the generative AI boom has driven up component costs, particularly memory, leading Microsoft to raise console prices last month. The Xbox Series X is now more expensive than ever, putting next-gen gaming out of reach for many players.
But the irony is thick. Microsoft, one of the primary drivers of the AI boom through its multi-billion-dollar partnership with OpenAI and its Azure and Copilot products, is now citing the economic fallout of that very boom as justification for introducing ads into game streaming. The blog post claims “advertising has existed in gaming for decades” and that this approach will “create value” for players — though exactly how seeing ads before playing games you own creates value remains unclear.
EA is also pushing into in-game advertising, having launched its own ad platform last month and calling it a “huge opportunity.” Former Anthem executive producer Mark Darrah has voiced support for the trend. With hardware costs unlikely to drop and major publishers hungry for new revenue streams, ad-supported gaming may be here to stay — whether players want it or not.
The Death of Physical Media: Sega Pushes Back Against Sony’s All-Digital Future
Sony’s July 1st announcement that it will end all physical disc manufacturing by January 2028 continues to send shockwaves through the industry. The decision affects not just first-party Sony titles but all games released on PlayStation, including those from third-party publishers. Even code-in-box retail options will be digital-only going forward.
The backlash has been fierce. A petition urging Sony to reconsider has gathered significant support, legal experts have outlined how a digital-only future could impact consumer rights, and the EU has confirmed it cannot intervene to stop Sony’s decision. But the most notable industry voice to push back this week came from an unexpected place: Sega.
Sega president Shuji Utsumi, in an interview with Famitsu, acknowledged the digital shift is “crucial” — particularly given the growing PC gaming audience — but stopped short of abandoning physical media entirely. “We were originally a platform provider, and of course, we still value the culture of physical media,” Utsumi said. “Rather than completely abandoning that, we are currently challenging ourselves to shift so that we can think about and act on the important aspects of digital media in parallel.”
It’s a notably more balanced stance than Sony’s, and it resonates with a gaming community that has grown increasingly vocal about preservation, ownership, and the right to lend, resell, and collect physical games. Disgaea creator Sohei Niikawa went even further, suggesting that if PlayStation kills physical media, it should “get rid of the hardware” too — arguing that a console without physical media support is essentially just a locked-down PC.
Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot, for his part, doesn’t believe PlayStation’s disc-less future will “disturb” the industry much — a stance that’s perhaps unsurprising from a publisher that has been steadily reducing its physical footprint for years.
Tomb Raider: Catalyst Delayed to 2028
Lara Croft can’t catch a break. Amazon’s gaming chief Jeffrey Gattis confirmed that Tomb Raider: Catalyst, the brand-new entry in the series that sends Lara to India, has been pushed from its expected 2027 release to sometime in 2028. The delay was delivered almost casually during a conversation about Amazon’s broader gaming strategy and Luna streaming platform relaunch.
This marks the second Tomb Raider delay from Amazon this year. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis — a ground-up remake of the original 1996 game — was previously pushed from 2026 to February 12, 2027. The remake also attracted controversy in June when it was revealed that Crystal Dynamics is using AI tools in development, with director Jeff Adams claiming it helps the team “get to the right answers faster” before Amazon’s PR shut down follow-up questions.
The Tomb Raider franchise’s troubles extend beyond game delays. Crystal Dynamics has endured four rounds of layoffs in the past 12 months, most recently cutting 20 staff in June. The Amazon Prime live-action TV series starring Sophie Turner as Lara Croft halted filming earlier this year when Turner suffered a back injury on set, though production has since resumed. For a franchise that was supposed to mark Amazon’s big gaming coming-out party, it’s been a remarkably rocky road.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Introduces Third Matchmaking System
If you thought the debate over skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) in Call of Duty was settled, think again. Activision has introduced a third matchmaking system to Black Ops 7 with the launch of Season 5, and even dedicated COD players are struggling to keep up.
Black Ops 7 already offers two matchmaking options: the standard system (which prioritizes skill) and the “Open” system (which takes “minimal skill consideration” into account). Now, a third option has been added, reportedly “inspired by” the recently released PlayStation ports of Black Ops 1 and 2. This new system covers Quick Play, Party Games, and the Black Ops Classic playlists.
The move comes after the surprise PlayStation ports of the first two Black Ops games reignited the community’s love for classic, less movement-heavy Call of Duty gameplay. Those ports drew criticism for their high price and lack of meaningful upgrades, but they clearly struck a chord with players nostalgic for a simpler era of COD. Treyarch subsequently made the BO1&2-inspired Classic mode a permanent addition to Black Ops 7, and many commentators — including Eurogamer’s own — have argued that Modern Warfare 4, which enters beta in August, should learn from its success.
Activision hasn’t clearly explained how the new third matchmaking option differs from the existing “Open” system, leaving players confused about what exactly they’re choosing. With Modern Warfare 4’s beta confirmed to continue the Open/standard matchmaking tradition, the franchise’s identity crisis around how to pair players shows no signs of resolving.
The Bigger Picture: An Industry in Transformation
Step back and look at this week’s news collectively, and a clear picture emerges: the gaming industry is undergoing one of the most dramatic transformations in its history. The Saudi PIF’s acquisition of EA represents an unprecedented shift in ownership and power, potentially redirecting the creative future of some of gaming’s biggest franchises. Microsoft’s ad-supported streaming test and EA’s in-game advertising platform signal a fundamental rethinking of how games are monetized — moving beyond the $70 purchase price and battle pass model toward something that looks increasingly like free-to-play mobile gaming applied to premium console experiences.
Simultaneously, the death of physical media threatens to reshape the relationship between players and their games, eliminating resale value, lending, and the basic concept of ownership that has defined gaming for four decades. Sony’s decision to go disc-less by 2028 is the most aggressive move in this direction, but the entire industry is trending the same way.
And yet, amidst all this disruption, the games themselves continue to deliver. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced selling 3.5 million copies in two weeks proves that players will show up for quality experiences. God of War Laufey’s February 2027 release date gives PlayStation fans a genuine reason to be excited. Halo’s secret ending tease reminds us that the magic of discovery still exists in AAA gaming. And the ongoing success of classic-inspired modes in Call of Duty shows that sometimes, listening to what players actually want pays off.
The tension between corporate consolidation, monetization experiments, and the creative soul of gaming has never been more acute. How the industry navigates the next 18 months — through the EA acquisition’s completion, PlayStation’s digital transition, and the release of tentpole titles like Laufey and Modern Warfare 4 — will define what gaming looks like for the next decade. One thing is certain: we’re living through the most pivotal moment in gaming history since the mobile revolution, and every week brings a new headline that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
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