智通财经APP获悉，艺电公司(EA.US)已同意出售给一组私人投资者，此次交易对该公司的估值达550亿 美元，成为全球史上规模最大的杠杆收购案。 根据周一发布的声明，由银湖资本(Silver Lake Management)、沙特公共投资基金(Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund，简称PIF)及贾里德·库什纳(Jared Kushner)旗下Affinity Partners组成的财团，将以每股 210美元现金的价格收购这家总部位于美国加利福尼亚州雷德伍德市的企业。这一报价较上周五收购谈 判消息泄露前的股价，溢价25%。 作为《EA SPORTS FC》《模拟人生》等知名游戏的开发商，艺电此次出售的背景是：视频游戏行业规 模虽达1780亿美元，但在疫情封锁期间销售额大幅增长后，如今整体增长已显乏力。艺电此前已经历多 轮裁员，且一直在寻找新的增长方向——目前玩家更倾向于选择"免费游玩(F2P)"且持续更新的游戏系 列，而非斥资80美元购买新推出的盒装游戏，艺电亟需吸引这类玩家群体。 此次交易包含摩根大通提供的200亿美元债务融资，这一交易也表明：尽管衰退担忧与地缘政治风险对 ...

以下文章来源于福布斯 ，作者Forbes 福布斯 . 福布斯中国集团是一家集咨询、社群于一体的企业。集团秉承企业家精神和创新精神，坚持专业、公 正、创新和进取的价值观。 作者丨 Richard Nieva 翻译丨 Lemin 图源丨 Nikkei Asia 走进旧金山历史悠久的渡轮大厦内的 Niantic 总部，访客首先会被一群巨大的宝可梦毛绒玩具包围： 在阶梯式剧场般的台阶上，一只巨大的卡比兽正在角落打盹，而妙蛙种子则仿佛随时准备扑向猎物。 不远处，一脸震惊的可达鸭茫然望着远方，似乎想要看清这家公司出人意料的未来。 来源丨福布斯（ID： forbes_china ） 今年 3 月， Niantic 宣布了一则重磅消息： 根据高德纳（ Gartner ）的数据， 2023 年空间计算的市场规模为 1100 亿美元，到 2033 年预计将 增至 1.7 万亿美元，增长动力来自 TomTom 等地图巨头以及谷歌等传统科技巨头的定位服务。 "这是 个巨大的机会。"高德纳新兴技术团队首席分析师阮祥（ Tuong Nguyen ，音译）表示。 但竞争也同样激烈。在空间 AI 领域， Niantic 面临一些强劲对手。 ...

Core Insights - Niantic, known for the popular mobile game Pokémon GO, has decided to sell its gaming business for $3.5 billion to Scopely and shift its focus to enterprise-level AI, rebranding itself as Niantic Spatial [3][4][11] - The company aims to leverage its extensive location data, accumulated from players walking over 30 billion miles, to develop AI models that analyze the real world and serve enterprise clients [4][6][19] Group 1: Strategic Shift - The CEO John Hanke emphasized that the restructuring allows both the gaming and AI divisions to pursue their respective futures more effectively [4][11] - Niantic's new platform, Spatial, offers AI mapping tools for businesses, enabling applications such as robot route planning and augmented reality glasses [4][6] - The decision to pivot to AI reflects the broader impact of generative AI trends in Silicon Valley, with the spatial computing market projected to grow from $110 billion in 2023 to $1.7 trillion by 2033 [6][7] Group 2: Financial Aspects - Niantic raised $250 million from existing investors to fund the new company, with the transaction expected to complete by the end of the month [7] - The gaming business, particularly Pokémon GO, has generated approximately $8 billion in revenue since its launch in 2016, with an estimated $770 million contribution to Niantic's projected $1 billion revenue in 2024 [8][11] - Despite the sale, Niantic will continue to provide augmented reality mapping services to Scopely, maintaining access to critical location data for AI model development [20][21] Group 3: Competitive Landscape - Niantic faces strong competition in the spatial AI sector from companies like Nvidia, which has launched the Omniverse platform for creating 3D digital twins [7] - The company has also encountered challenges in replicating the success of Pokémon GO, with previous titles like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite failing to achieve similar popularity [10][16] Group 4: Data Privacy and Ethical Considerations - The sale of the gaming business raised concerns regarding user data management, particularly due to Scopely's backing by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund [21] - Hanke reassured that data privacy regulations will be strictly followed, and user data will remain under the control of Niantic and Scopely [21] - Niantic has clarified that data collection for AI model training will only occur with user consent during specific actions, addressing player concerns about data usage [21]