Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, has agreed a deal to sell the company for $55bn (£41bn).
The consortium of buyers include Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
EA is known for making and publishing best-selling games such as EA FC, formerly known as Fifa, The Sims and Mass Effect.
It is understood to be the largest leveraged buyout in history - where a significant amount of the purchase is financed by borrowing money.
The deal will take EA private - meaning all of its public shares will be purchased and it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange.
The purchase price puts a significant 25% premium on the market value of EA, valuing it at $210 per share.
It is the second most valuable gaming purchase in history, following Microsoft’s $69bn deal to buy Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard - which went through after significant battles with global regulators, with the UK concerned it may damage competition.
In the end, the deal was only approved after Microsoft handed the rights to distribute the firm’s games on consoles and PCs over the cloud to Assassin’s Creed-maker Ubisoft.
EA boss Andrew Wilson, who will remain in post, said it was a “powerful recognition” of the firm’s work.
“Together with our partners, we will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come,” he said.
The firms buying EA will contribute approximately $36bn, with the remaining amount being financed by loans.
“EA has been open to a potential buyer to help level up for a while,” industry expert Christopher Dring told the BBC.
“But an acquisition from private equity is a surprise and there’s a lot of industry anxiety around this deal.”
He said there were concerns that the deal would result in $20bn of debt - which would need to be paid back.
“The revenue generated by big games like EA Sports FC, Madden and Battlefield 6 will be needed to service this debt, which may impact EA’s ability to invest in new games,” he said.
“Other industry concerns are whether this might lead to further cuts at EA, especially if there’s pressure from the private companies to deliver stronger cash flow, again to serve that debt.”
Saudi Arabia extends gaming reach
It is a massive purchase of a company which has been synonymous with the gaming industry for more than 40 years.
In that time, EA has been responsible for some of the biggest game series in history. Its football titles, now known as EA FC, have sold 325 million copies since the first release in 1993.
The Sims has sold more than 200 million copies, and Need For Speed more than 150 million.
But it has also been the publisher of many other popular titles - often being the partner of choice for games in the Harry Potter and James Bond series in the past.
The purchase will be a big gaming feather in the cap of Saudi Arabia, which has been increasing its presence in the industry in recent years.
In March 2025, the nation’s investment fund paid $3.5bn to purchase the gaming division of Niantic - giving it control of the hit mobile game Pokémon Go.
The purchase became part of Scopely Inc - makers of Monopoly Go - which itself was bought by PIF subsidiary Savvy Games Group for $4.9bn in 2023.
Saudi Arabia has made waves in the eSports industry, hosting major tournaments including the eSports World Cup, and it will also host 2027’s planned Olympic esports Games.
The country already has stakes in other big gaming firms such as Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive, but the EA purchase marks a significant extension of its reach.
Its PIF has hundreds of billions in assets due to its oil wealth, and it is controlled by the country’s prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose government has been accused of human rights violations.
A 2019 UN report stated “the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible” for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who was critical of the country’s government.
Saudi Arabia has always denied this.
Source: BBC
--Agencies
