Saudi-led group completes $55B purchase of gaming giant EA
A Saudi-led investment group, including Affinity Partners, has finalized a $55 billion leveraged buyout of gaming giant Electronic Arts. The deal will take the company private, raising concerns among analysts about potential layoffs, aggressive monetization, and the impact of the new ownership's cultural values on EA's inclusive game titles.
Why it matters
This represents one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history, signaling a major shift in the gaming industry's ownership structure and potential changes to corporate governance and creative direction.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Laura Cress Technology reporter Electronic Arts EA's football titles - from Fifa to EA FC - have sold over 325 million copies since the first release in 1993 The sale of gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) for $55bn (£41bn) to a group of buyers including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been finalised.
The American company is known for making and publishing best-selling games such as EA FC, formerly known as Fifa, The Sims and Mass Effect.
The investors, who include Affinity Partners - led by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner - are taking EA private, meaning all of its public shares will be purchased and it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange.
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