Belinda Ercan

Informed Gamers, you voted on which 'The Game Awards 2025' trailer pulled the most YouTube views...and the quiet winner was actually 2XKO!! 8 million combined views across Riot’s channels during TGA, per Fancensus (RE: 6.5M, SW: 4.5, TR: 1.8M) - And off the back of that “unexpected winner” theme, I’ve just released a new episode, “the candy crush scam that beat GTA”, digging into how Candy Crush made around $20 billion versus GTA V + Online’s $8.5 billion and what it means for a future where the best business model keeps beating the best games. Fun fact: I found the last clip you'll see at the end only AFTER I finalized the script! It was a perfect full-circle moment! Enjoy :)
https://youtu.be/y2DOWHM-kFw

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 75

Belinda Ercan

Informed Gamers! This weekend I’m dropping my new episode on how a certain “little” mobile puzzle game quietly made more money than GTA V and Online combined (in 2 years vs ... decades) and what that says about how games are built today.

But before you get to watch that, here’s a quick (and slightly surprising) TGA data quiz: Which The Game Awards 2025 trailer had the highest YouTube views by Sunday, Dec 14? (Answer to be revealed on Saturday)

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 69

Belinda Ercan

Just watched Fern’s new Peter Thiel video => Googled Thiel's portfolio exits (companies he cashed out of) First thing I see? Zynga. Of course.

Because somehow all roads in tech chaos lead back to the same few people..
My Zynga/Pincus video hits different now 👇
https://youtu.be/Zu0w-lh3qJo

1 month ago | [YT] | 204

Belinda Ercan

"Square Enix is the only player in the industry experiencing negative revenue growth"
…at least according to one very angry investor’s 100-page presentation.
But let me translate the investor jargon (in a pinned comment)

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1 month ago | [YT] | 206

Belinda Ercan

Go check your unredeemed Humble keys if you have some.
Some Steam keys owners who returned a year later to unlock a game, found out they were quietly swapped for Epic/GOG keys. No communication whatsoever. It feels illegal, but it’s really a licensing loophole shaped by the gray Steam key reseller market (swipe for details)

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1 month ago | [YT] | 239

Belinda Ercan

Wish me luck

1 month ago | [YT] | 227

Belinda Ercan

Ever wonder how long a 10-second shot takes to make, like the "TV moment" at the end of my last video?

Yeah… my editor spent days building this entire 3D scene in Blender; gears, lights, props, renders, the whole thing, all for a moment one probably blinked past (nope, we won't use Sora, I promise :D)

But this is the level of detail we put into these videos regardless, even when no one sees it directly.

If you want us to keep obsessing over details like this, you can support us here:
patreon.com/BelindaErcan

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1 month ago | [YT] | 228

Belinda Ercan

Gaming's biggest night..the "Oscars" of gaming, has had a higher viewership number than the Super Bowl last year! So many people watching, but so few know (or question) how award winners are chosen (90% journalists, 10% fans).
Yup, 90/10. That's how "the best" in gaming is decided. But why does your vote barely count? And why does Geoff Keighley, sole gatekeeper of the show, leave out that ONE thing that every other award show relies on, except THIS one?!

Full episode live now, with STREET INTERVIEWS and some nostalgic moments (FLUTE GUY!) :)

1 month ago | [YT] | 60

Belinda Ercan

The man who helped sell EA to Saudi Arabia: Jared Kushner

What happened?

July 2021: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund commits $2 billion to Jared Kushner’s new firm, Affinity Partners. The approval comes directly from the Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), even though PIF’s own advisory panel flags the investment as risky (Firm is new, untested, and the optics aren’t great. Still, the money goes through)

2022–2023: Affinity Partners gets off the ground. Most of its strength comes from that Saudi capital. In practice, the PIF investment becomes the foundation of the firm’s entire portfolio.

Early 2024: Affinity starts playing connector. According to later reporting, the firm is the one that brings Electronic Arts and PIF into early conversations. They help keep the talks alive as they grow more serious.

Mid–2025: Negotiations shift toward taking EA private through a leveraged buyout. By now, three players are involved: Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Silver Lake, and Kushner’s Affinity Partners. This becomes the consortium that will eventually acquire the company.

November 2025: EA announces the deal: a $55 billion leveraged buyout, the largest LBO ever recorded in any industry. The ownership split becomes public:

PIF: 93.4%

Silver Lake: 5.5%

Affinity Partners: 1.1%

The financing is also clarified: roughly $36 billion in equity, plus about $20 billion in debt secured against EA’s own assets.

A quick note for context: This is the biggest leveraged buyout in history but not the biggest gaming acquisition overall. That title still belongs to Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Interesting space to observe. (Maybe interesting enough to turn into a full-fledged YouTube episode? You let me know :)

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 173

Belinda Ercan

Sony wants the power to cut your entire internet.. for one person's piracy!

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1 month ago | [YT] | 258