Remember when you were young, and had your first crush? All of a sudden your hormones are going nuts, and here’s this person you can’t think about without your face contorting into a goofy smile, or talk about without bashfully giggling. Well, it seems that’s how part-time Gearbox exec and full-time social media poster Randall Steward Pitchford II feels about Borderlands 4‘s freshly revealed first DLC Vault Hunter.
It’s understandable to be fair. Which of us hasn’t found ourselves gazing longingly at a former casino robot dressed like a goth version of John Wayne, before volunteering to help animate its card-throwing? Sometimes, C4SH rules not just everything around you, but your very heart.
EA has confirmed it has agreed to be acquired by an investor group composed of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in a transaction valued at approximately $55 billion. It’s the largest all-cash sponsor take-private investment in history.
Under the terms of the agreement, the group will acquire 100% of EA, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) rolling over its existing 9.9% stake in the company. EA stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash. The per share purchase price represents a 25% premium to EA’s unaffected share price of $168.32 at market close on September 25, 2025, and a premium to EA’s unaffected all-time high of $179.01 at market close on August 14, 2025.
Following the close of the transaction, EA’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.
Andrew Wilson, EA Chairman and CEO, commented:
“Our creative and passionate teams at EA have delivered extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans, built some of the world’s most iconic IP, and created significant value for our business. This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to push the boundaries of entertainment, sports, and technology, unlocking new opportunities. Together with our partners, we will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come. I am more energized than ever about the future we are building.”
EA will continue to be led by Wilson and will remain headquartered in Redwood City, California. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 FY27, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals.
The transaction will be funded by a combination of cash from each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, the latter of which is an American investment firm based in Miami, Florida, and formed in 2021 by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Combined, the deal is for an equity investment of approximately $36 billion, and $20 billion of debt financing fully and solely committed by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., $18 billion of which is expected to be funded at close. Each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners plan to fund the equity component of the financing entirely from capital under their respective control, the companies said.
The enormous sale comes just days before EA releases Battlefield 6, a crucial launch for the company, and hot on the heels of FC 26 and Skate. EA games in development include Mass Effect at BioWare, Star Wars Jedi 3 at Respawn, and Iron Man at Motive.
Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
May Horace save and protect you, my fellow Metamedia Sorcerers, for I come with bad tidings. We are entering a news-lull. While there are some curious, possibly even attention-worthy PC games out this week, none of them are Big. None of them have that triple, quadruple or possibly even quintuple-A bullshit frosting the Maw so delights to batten upon. Last week gave us Tokyo Game Show, a time of relative bounty, but this week, there is a dearth of obvious headline material, and the Creature is already showing signs of discontent.
Its guts stiffen and strain like paralysed icebreakers. Its eyes widen in every mirror. How could it get worse? Oh hell’s teeth, I’ve run out of coffee. We’re doomed! Rohan has deserted us! Theoden has betrayed me! Abandon your posts! Flee, flee for your lives!
Nearly a year after its debut in Poland, Andrzej Sapkowski’s latest Witcher novel, Crossroads of Ravens, finally arrives in English this week. Amazon is currently selling it for $24.50 in the US (18% off the $30 MSRP) and £19.99 in the UK (20% off the £20 RRP).
According to Amazon’s description, the prequel finds Geralt “stumbling through a world that neither understands nor welcomes his kind.” Fresh from Kaer Morhen, a rash attempt at heroism nearly ends with his execution, but he is saved at the last moment by Preston Holt, “a grizzled witcher with a buried past and an agenda of his own.”
Under Holt’s mentorship, Geralt begins to learn what it really means to walk the Path, not just in battling monsters but in surviving the prejudice and politics of the Continent. Sapkowski frames this as the story of “how legends are made, and what they cost.”
It makes sense for this new tale to look back rather than push forward. Geralt’s arc already reaches a definitive conclusion in the main saga, and the CD Projekt games have effectively carried the timeline on in their own way, set just a few years after the books.
Still, while Sapkowski’s novels remain the bedrock of the series, The Witcher has long since grown into something much bigger. Alongside the games and their upcoming sequels and spin-offs, there’s now a Netflix adaptation, comics, a tabletop RPG, manga, and even a cookbook keeping the Continent alive in new and unexpected forms.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
It’s been over half a year since Fallout: London developers Team FOLON announced that it’d be getting three bits of DLC adding new quests to post-apocalyptic Blighty. The folks behind the massive mod have been relatively quiet in that time, but they’ve now confirmed that the first of these DLCs, Rabbit and Pork, will require you to start a fresh save game.
Also, one reason it hasn’t arrived already is that the team have been working to ensure other quest add-ons won’t force you to go back to square one, whenever they drop.
We’ve seen a fair number of third-party Switch 1 games make the jump to Nintendo’s new hardware under the ‘Nintendo Switch 2 Edition‘ banner, and now, if a new piece of Nintendo marketing is to be believed, a bunch of LEGO games might just be following suit (thanks for the heads up, Eurogamer).
That’s according to a handful of fans who were lucky enough to attend Zurich Pop Con over the weekend, where Nintendo of Europe held a pretty sizeable booth. The NoE Switch 2 area was home to all of the banners we’re used to seeing at these kinds of events (Cyberpunk 2077, Super Mario Party Jamboree, you get the picture), but it also housed a display featuring five different LEGO games, all under the S2 logo.
The highly anticipated set, which will take players back to Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, debuts on January 23, 2026, and marks the first Commander precons of the year, as well as new Theme Decks for Standard.
Here’s everything on offer, and where you can find it if you’re looking to lock your preorder in ASAP.
The preorder price guarantee means you may pay less, too, and each pack has a guaranteed foil.
Bundle
As is the case with pretty much any Magic set, a Bundle is available, too. This one includes 9 Play Boosters, a deck box, 30 lands and a spindown life counter.
After no Commander Decks for Marvel’s Spider-Man or Avatar: The Last Airbender, they’re back with Lorwyn Eclipsed.
Blight Curse is a Jund (Black, Red, Green) deck which promises -1/-1 drain and creature combos, while Dance of the Elements is a rare five-color precon with a gameplan of summoning huge elementals and sacrifice.
They’re both up for $49.99 on Amazon, but there’s every chance one (or both) spike in the coming weeks.
Up next, Collector Boosters are where you’re likely to find the more sought-after variants of Lorwyn Eclipsed cards, with these packs full of foils, full-arts, and special treatments.
They’re not going to come cheap, however, so you’ll want to lock in a preorder price if you’re particularly keen. Amazon has them listed, but there’s no pricing yet.
Draft Night Box
To my knowledge, this is a debut for the Lorwyn Eclipsed set, and this Draft Night box is still without a price on Amazon.
It contains 12 Play Boosters, 1 Collector Booster, and 90 basic lands so that players can draft a 40-card deck with friends and pit them against each other, and the winner gets the Collector Booster.
Theme Decks
Finally, Lorwyn Eclipsed is bringing back Theme Decks for Standard play, and I’m pretty excited to have an easy way to jump into the format since Commander can be overwhelming to newcomers.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
As has been the case with all of Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s sizeable updates this far, Team Cherry have put out some tweaks as a Steam beta shot to the upcoming patch three’s chaser. As of now, opting into playtesting this “interim update” offers some extra controller support and fixes, but the devs say more’ll be added before the full patch goes live to everyone.
Fortnite has swiftly disabled the game’s Peaceful Hips emote, a collaboration with James Gunn and John Cena’s DCU Peacemaker TV series, following a bombshell twist at the end of the show’s most recent episode.
Warning! Spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 6 follow.
Fans were left stunned when Peacemaker’s latest episode revealed that the show’s alternate “Earth-2” setting was in fact “Earth-X,” a fascist, Nazi world where the U.S. flag features a swastika.
Many fans now say Peacemaker had subtly pointed to this twist the whole season, as Cena’s dance in the show’s opening credits includes arm movements suggestive of a swastika — the same dance moves seen in the Peaceful Hips emote.
But none of this seemed likely before the last episode aired — and judging by a statement released by Fortnite maker Epic Games over the weekend, the developer was just as surprised to discover what looks to be the true meaning of the emote it now had in the game.
DC Peacemaker ‘Peaceful Hips’ Emote will be disabled
“As we inquire into our partner’s creative intentions in this collab emote. Assuming it’s not coming back, we’ll issue refunds in the next few days. Sorry folks.” pic.twitter.com/gQ4oARbf6f
“We’re disabling the Peaceful Hips Emote in Fortnite as we inquire into our partner’s creative intentions in this collab emote,” Epic Games wrote on its Fortnite Status social media account. “Assuming it’s not coming back, we’ll issue refunds in the next few days. Sorry folks.”
Epic Games’ statement doesn’t sound positive for the emote remaining in Fortnite, but what’s even more extraordinary is the suggestion that developer — who worked closely with DC Studios on the collaboration — was left to discover the dance’s true nature alongside audiences, and was now scrambling to get an explanation.
Fans have already begun to fret over what any potential schism might mean for the future of DC’s popular collaborations within Fortnite, and whether the two companies would continue to work together. IGN has contacted Epic Games for comment.
In general, fan response to the emote being pulled has been mixed, with some acknowledging the potential for the “Nazi emote,” as it’s been dubbed, to subsequently be misused by players to grief others. Others, however, have questioned why Epic Games has acted here but not in other similar situations.
For example, Fortnite recently raised eyebrows by adding the Tylil Dance, an emote collaboration with rapper Kai Cenat which features music by Kanye West. West, who now refers to himself as Ye, previously made numerous comments deemed to be anti-semitic and in 2022 said he identified as “a Nazi.”
In another example, Fortnite has notably shied away from reselling an in-game skin, Rue, whose costume players widely likened to the design of a Nazi uniform. The skin remains within the game, though is now one of Fortnite’s rarest — as Epic Games has chosen not to sell it in over five years.
EA is ramping up its Battlefield 6 marketing, this time taking a direct jab at first-person shooter rival Call of Duty.
Battlefield 6’s official live-action trailer dropped over the weekend, and it begins with what looks like a send up of Activision’s star-studded live-action Call of Duty trailers. The classic example here is the ‘There’s a Soldier in All of Us’ video for 2010’s Black Ops, which features the late Kobe Bryant, and talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel firing weapons in a live-action battlefield.
The Battlefield 6 advert sees actor Zac Efron, basketball star Jimmy Butler, country singer Morgan Wallen, and UFC star Paddy Pimblett assume the classes available to play in the game, complete with outlandish gun skins. It looks like the trailer will continue on in the Call of Duty style, but Zac Efron’s rousing speech is cut short by a missile that blows the squad to smithereens.
Surprise! Realistic-looking mil-sim soldiers emerge from the smoke. “Who was that?” one soldier asks. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s move.” We’re then treated to a live-action trailer packed with the kind of explosive action and environmental destruction the Battlefield series is famous for. The trailer ends with the tagline “Only in Battlefield.”
The message is loud and clear: Battlefield 6 isn’t like Call of Duty, it’s a serious first-person shooter.
It didn’t take long for fans to take note of what EA’s trying to do here. “Wait. Game company dissing other game company in their trailer in 2025??? We’re so back on 2010,” said one YouTube user. “They’re literally just roasting call of duty at this point,” said another. “Oh my god they had us in the first half not gonna lie,” added another fan. “I think we know who they’re mocking, S+ marketing team,” said a redditor.
In a recent interview with DBLTAP, Battlefield 6 design director Shashank Uchil doubled down on EA’s commitment to grounded realism, and even pointed to Call of Duty’s infamous Nicki Minaj skin as something Battlefield 6 doesn’t need.
“It has to be grounded,” he said. “That is what BF3 and BF4 was — it was all soldiers, on the ground. It’s going to be like this,” Uchil said, pointing at the key art featuring soldiers in soldier gear looking out over a wartorn New York City.
He added: “I don’t think it needs Nicki Minaj. Let’s keep it real, keep it grounded.”
Call of Duty’s foray into goofy skins territory is well-documented, although recent releases have certainly amped up the conversation around them. With the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and American Dad hitting the game this year shortly after weed-obsessed bundles starring Seth Rogen, some fans have said they’ve had enough of what they call the ‘Fortnite-ification’ of their beloved Call of Duty, and pleaded with publisher Activision to return to its mil-sim roots.
Then, last month, Activision shocked the Call of Duty community when it confirmed that Operators, Operator Skins, and Weapons from Black Ops 6 would no longer carry forward into Black Ops 7. This came as a big surprise to players who had expected content they’d bought for Black Ops 6 to carry forward, as it has done with previous entries, and given Black Ops 7 directly follows last year’s Black Ops 6. Explaining the decision, Activision said Black Ops 7 “needs to feel authentic to Call of Duty and its setting.”
It means that at launch, at least, you won’t see all those goofy skins running around Multiplayer. It sounds like Multiplayer will look like Black Ops 7, at least at the start of things. Activision went on to say that Black Ops 7 bundles and items “will be crafted to fit the Black Ops identity.” “We hear the feedback,” Activision added. “We need to deliver a better balance toward the immersive, core Call of Duty experience.”
Battlefield 6 is a crucial release for EA, and based on this live-action trailer, it’s putting its weight behind the marketing of the game. Battlefield 6 leads the charge, releasing October 10 before Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 counter-attacks on November 14. It will be interesting to see which of the two mega publishers is happiest when the dust settles.
It’s been an interesting month for video game companies mocking their rivals with adverts. Earlier this month, Sega reignited its old rivalry against Nintendo with a spicy trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that went hard on Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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