EA merger talks, GTA 6 stock woes, and a Kojima warning shot

Saudi Arabian owners of EA are reportedly weighing a merger with Savvy Games that would create what amounts to a gaming conglomerate of unusual scale. The talks are still at the consideration stage, but the potential combination would unite one of the industry's largest publishers with a Saudi state-backed games operation — a pairing that has obvious implications for how power is distributed across the sector.

Take-Two's stock is having a rough year despite GTA 6 looming as one of the most anticipated releases in memory, a contradiction that speaks to investor anxiety about costs, delays, and the gap between hype and actual revenue. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 offers a data point worth watching: analyst figures suggest 35 percent of its $1.2 billion in earnings came from physical disc sales, though PlayStation appears more focused on market control than format mix. Marvel's Wolverine is also drawing attention before launch, though not for reasons Insomniac would want, coming under fire in the lead-up to release.

Warframe is approaching what Digital Extremes is framing as its biggest moment in 13 years of live service, while Dave the Diver has crossed 10 million copies sold and Mintrocket says more announcements are coming. Ubisoft is testing changes to reduce the friction of launching its games through Steam — a quiet but telling concession to player frustration. A piece from Aftermath arguing that if Hideo Kojima's projects are not safe from industry pressure, nothing is, adds a sharper edge to a week already full of uncomfortable business news.