Silver Lake

And just the knowledge that that cost $750,000.

To say that all the Silver Lake money was wasted...

That stat right there tells you everything you need to know.

And I guess when we get to, again, I think the way that a lot of fans are feeling.

But, yeah, the scathing review is one way to put it, and it's quite an eye-opening book.

All right, so let me give everyone the top level.

The piece tells the story of what was a very chaotic, unbundling process that was further derailed by Fox Sports in their force majeure exit from the broadcast deal and the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of that on the competition, the unfavorable terms of the Silver Lake deal, the private equity that was pushed into the A-League shortly after the formation of the APL that caused pushed them towards this new media experiment called Keep Up that was not just supposed to be this media entity that probably spread itself too thin, but was in charge of ticketing and a hub for everything that a consumer could possibly want.

And Intended to one day actually lead towards direct-to-consumer broadcasting, which is something that we are seeing not just in the world of football, but in the world of sports happening more and more for the first time ever.

There's a lot more room for growth.

And if you look at these individuals, whether it be technology from Silver Lake Partners, whether it be marketing and branding.

from the guys he brought in from TKO Holdings to Tom Brady, who advised him a great deal, for instance, on the football side and with Fernando Mendoza and drafting him number one overall last year.

He's really building the future of this franchise.

Sony.

Right, like it's significant, okay? Number two, part of this investor group, a private equity firm, Silver Lake.

Other major investments by this firm include TikTok, Airbnb, Waymo, Twitter, Expedia, GoodRx, SoFi, Ancestry, Dell, Skype, and a lot more.

If you don't know what private equity is, private equity...

And obviously the release of Dragon Age the Veilguard two years ago, it fell short of commercial expectations.

And people saw this coming when EA, who had been recently bought out for $55 billion by an investment consortium of Saudi Arabia's public investment fund, Silver Lake Partners and Affinity Partners, which is the private equity firm founded by the son of a president's son of a in-law, Jared Kushner.

I don't want to directly blame Jared Kushner for the closing of this studio, but it's so tempting.

uh anyway this is me being down on a lot of things but electronic arts announced as everyone knew they were going to be they announced that they're going to be cutting a lot of jobs because the company took on a lot of debt because whenever a public equity uh private equity sorry whenever a private equity firm takes possession of something like this they end up cutting jobs uh and yeah so 400 people lost their jobs and included all 50 members of bioware uh and all that unfortunately uh through mass effect 5 uh out with the bathwater too.

We were talking a little bit earlier about Saudi Arabia and.

But also with some like Silver Lake Capital and some American money, Jared Kushner is involved in this, who is the president's son-in-law, President Trump's son-in-law, married to Ivanka Trump.

And so they've taken the company private.

And what I said, and by the way, this was all done, it's like $70 billion or whatever in cash, or it was like $50 billion in cash, $18 billion or $20 billion in leverage.

Also, they have canceled the upcoming fifth Mass Effect game, which... we have now seen leaked trailers of that have been confirmed as real, look fucking unbelievable.

Let's talk about the fact that they were bought recently for $55 billion to a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, PIF investment firm, Silver Lake Partners and Affinity Partners, which is run by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

So that is who is in charge of our gaming now.

That is who is in charge of our entertainment.

The Redwood Shores, California-based maker of popular titles like Battlefield and The Sims, closed the $55 billion sale of its business to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, PIF.

Investment firm Silver Lake Partners and Affinity Partners, which is run by a Jared Kushner this past August.

Representatives for EA did not immediately respond to the sinking comment on the layoffs.

What generations of Bioware built together is something to celebrate and remember, the studio said via social media.