The new update: a Saudi Prince just came in and bought EA. The whole company! And so the most celebratory action was updating the Steam profile. Yes, your ears did not lie-the gaming world is going mad over this peculiar flex straight out of meme territory.
Reportedly, the Prince responsible for the Billionaire Era rechristened his profile with, “I bought EA. Thank you so much, Reddit!” This came as news leaked of a big stake recently acquired by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in Electronic Arts. But: making that your Steam bio? Now, this is playing on a whole new aspect of the gamer landscape.
The internet went mad. One gamer joked, “Bro speedran ‘r/WallStreetBets to CEO’ any%,” which felt extremely legit. Another queried, “Did bro spend $55B just to flex on steam? 😂” The question is a fairly valid one-he might just have made the most expensive Steam profile update in history.
But is any of this true? The doubts surfaced fast, with many gamers suggesting that the whole plotline might just be a hoax. One skeptical commenter asked, “Lol how do u know thats a Saudi prince” while another dubbed the story an “obvious catfish.” Neil’s picture helped foster doubt. One person asked, “being a weeb isn’t haram?”
Even the grammar used in the original report was a contributing factor to the confusion somewhat. Somebody said, “Saudi ‘Prince’….’their’ profile – Are you guys feeling okay?,” disrespecting this correct usage, and thus began an enormous debate on pronouns and proper English. They really will argue about anything on the internet, don’t they?
Aside from that, what is really interesting is how split the community is regarding this possible acquisition: Some players are celebrating it, as you can tell from comments like “Hopefully Ubisoft would be next,” while others are more cautious, one player warns, “$100 madden incoming. Private companies charge what they want.”
This is the really modern capitalism definition: It’s just too absurd for a Billionaire to append his business acquisitions onto gaming platforms. Imagine shelling out billions for a major game publisher, and what first crosses your mind is “how can I turn this into a funny Steam status?” Could be either master-class trolling or some guy who has too much money and too much time.
Followed by some speculation of what this means for EA. One user joked, “No more LGBT shit,” while another offered an optimistic “EA might have a chance again.” Honestly, it’s probably right in the middle. Usually, with this scale of acquisition, there’s going to be a lot of big changes with the question of whether these big changes are for better or for worse from a player’s perspective only really answerable once they come into fruition.
The whole episode gives me that weird dream vibe. Oil money meets gaming culture meets social media flexing. It is one of those stories that just make one step backward and take in the absurdity of this world, where princes are updating Steam profiles in acknowledgment of corporate takeovers.
What next? Would Jeff Bezos really change his Xbox bio to ‘I own Twitch now, thanks for the subs’? The line between serious business and Internet meme culture has never been thinner, and with a Saudi Prince already sitting there, it is certifying that even the richest can’t resist a little street credibility.
To be honest, whether this is real or an elaborate troll, it surely got the gaming community chatting. In an age where corporate takeovers usually mean nothing but boring press releases and shareholder meetings, it’s kind of fun and refreshing that someone has found a way to make an acquisition into something fun and relatable through gaming platforms… albeit in a weird way. We probably should hold our breaths for a little period yet, though, before we actually celebrate Madden allegedly costing $100 next year.
The story is still developing, though one thing is for sure-this is the most fun corporate takeover announcement ever. From WallStreetBets’ energy to Steam profile flexing, this capture perfectly exemplifies where gaming culture meets big business in 2024. Don’t be surprised if your next FIFA game ends up with oil money-themed microtransactions in this open world of modern gaming, while PlayStation fans watch from the sidelines.
