EA Goes Private, Black Ops 2 Makes a Comeback, and Is Xbox Finally Fixing Game Preservation? S7E26

This week on the M2 Podcast, we break down one of the biggest business stories in gaming as Electronic Arts officially goes private following its acquisition by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, and discuss what that could mean for the future of EA's biggest franchises and AI-driven game development. We also dive into the surprising success of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which has become one of 2026's best-selling games 14 years after its original release, proving that nostalgia remains one of gaming's strongest forces. Plus, we explore why great indie games are becoming harder to discover in today's algorithm-driven marketplace, and discuss leaked Xbox roadmap details that hint at expanded backwards compatibility, Xbox 360 support on PC, and long-awaited disc-to-digital features that could reshape game preservation over the next few years. 0:00 Intro 1:04 Update 11:26 EA Announces Completion of Acquisition https://tinyurl.com/2wwf4xk5  23:42 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Is One of 2026's Best Selling Games https://tinyurl.com/52b8mcmu  32:41 The industry makes great games https://tinyurl.com/mr2kja7z  50:44 Xbox's Plans For Backwards Compatibility https://tinyurl.com/bdf5j34j  1:01:15 Outro LEAVE A LIKE and a comment, thanks for watching/listening! \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PODCAST                ►► https://anchor.fm/m2podcast AMAZON Music         ► https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/091902c3-b83b-487c-8fe7-4c96787434fe/M2-Podcast APPLE                          ► https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1531832410 BREAKER                     ► https://www.breaker.audio/m2-podcast-2 CASTRO                       ► https://castro.fm/podcast/6f69d373-d879-46d9-9f1c-bcf7c4bf1741 GOOGLE                       ► https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8zNTYwNWZiMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== OVERCAST                   ► https://overcast.fm/itunes1531832410/m2-podcast POCKETCASTS           ► https://pca.st/5jghvf6e RADIOPUBLIC             ► https://radiopublic.com/m2-podcast-GMZkY4 SPOTIFY                      ► https://open.spotify.com/show/2VedhO03IRoHERJqF6Sy87 STICHER                      ► https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/m2-podcast TUNEIN                        ► http://tun.in/pj3ZI #podcast  JOIN THE DISCORD!  ►► https://discord.gg/Kp5Gre6 KyleHeath Socials: TIKTOK           ►► https://www.tiktok.com/@mrjkheath TWITCH          ►► https://www.twitch.tv/kyleheath TWITTER        ►► https://twitter.com/mrjkheath YOUTUBE       ►► https://www.youtube.com/MrJkheath MadMikeWillEatU Socials: TIKTOK           ►► https://www.tiktok.com/@madmikewilleatu TWITCH          ►► https://www.twitch.tv/madmikewilleatu/about TWITTER        ►► https://twitter.com/madmikewilleatu YOUTUBE       ►► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1MoIvzyMDvH\_5Ta