Electronic Arts, one of the biggest publishers in the gaming industry, has just been bought by an investment group. Three firms--the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners--will be purchasing EA for a massive $55 billion dollars. This buyout will make EA a private company, with shareholders receiving a 25% bonus payout to their share price. As to how this will affect EA and its gaming divisions going forward, the press release and statements from the investment firms simply state that this move will help EA to expand their worldwide reach and accelerate their innovation and growth within the industry.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) (“EA” or the “Company”), a global leader in interactive entertainment, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor consortium (“the Consortium”) comprised of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in an all-cash transaction that values EA at an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion. The transaction positions EA to accelerate innovation and growth to build the future of entertainment.

The deal will close sometime in the 2027 fiscal year. Of the $55 billion dollars purchase price, $20 billion will come from debt financing between the three investment groups. This debt could lead to EA cutting even more jobs and limiting what projects the publisher decides to take on, as they pay down the balance over the next few years, according to industry analysists. Electronic Arts' current CEO, Andrew Wilson, will remain with the company after the buyout.

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,

Source

 

[SDA]

Well, I'm happy. EA has always been greedy and it finally got the end it deserved.

Now I'm waiting for Ubisoft to end up the same way.

 

[emigre]

Pro tip guise, expect nothing positive from this.

 

[HideoKojima]

EA got sold… even their own company was a microtransaction

 

[KingVamp]

Would be an opportunity to finally take the sport games away from them, but that's probably not going to happen.

 

[JaNDeRPeiCH]

Now EA will put this meme from youtube in all their games .

 

[Earthshine]

EA FC, Madden, NHL (they still make those?) should just be updated digitally than release pointless physical releases since they're the same games with a new roster.

Tell me you haven't played these games yearly, without telling me you haven't played these game yearly. Not the same games with just new rosters.

 

[Lazyt]

i hope they will turn the sims 5 into a really thing very soon

 

[Lodad]

Good luck with that. Trump's son in law and the Saudis are now in charge

Hmm, people with close ties to an administration trying to tie violence to video games, gains total control of a major video game company? Certainly not strange at all.

 

[Xdqwerty]

I atleast wish they stop being so greedy

 

[Marc_LFD]

Tell me you haven't played these games yearly, without telling me you haven't played these game yearly. Not the same games with just new rosters.

"Tell me..." there's people who still bother to write that cringy shit.

 

[Earthshine]

"Tell me..." there's people who still bother to write that cringy shit.

So no actual rebuttal at all. Thanks for confirming I was right.

I mean, not to mention. "(they still make those?)" and "since they're the same games with a new roster". There's people who still bother to write that cringy shit?

 

[Moe87]

RIP LGBTQA+ since EA wouldn't be pro-LGBTQA+ anymore.

The Sims 5 likely not feature same sex couple.

 

[BlueFox gui]

i need to know what will change, because the only thing im seeing here is that microtransactions are going nowhere, because you know, it doesnt matter how much they make, they want more, and idk, trump propaganda and gay bad now?

 

[Lostbhoy]

If it's in the game..... It's not anymore

 

[Stroopwaffel]

Well, It's a leveraged buyout.. If watching Company Man has taught me anything, this will be a death sentence for EA.

I'm genuinely curious, which Company Man? I see both a TV series and a YouTuber.

 

[Exnor]

Get ready for some Saudi propaganda.

Lets see how much time they will last after this.

 

[tpax]

The investors look like someone who could finally un-woke that pile of garbage that EA has become.

Post automatically merged: Sep 29, 2025

RIP LGBTQA+ since EA wouldn't be pro-LGBTQA+ anymore.

The Sims 5 likely not feature same sex couple.

That would be the first good news from EA since the early 2000s.

 

[Lucaserf]

this will be a death sentence for EA.

Great news!!

 

[Moe87]

The investors look like someone who could finally un-woke that pile of garbage that EA has become.

Post automatically merged: Sep 29, 2025

That would be the first good news from EA since the early 2000s.

Good luck but it would be very least of your worries and EA will face a bigger problem with other topics.

They are likely to lose a lot of talented developers and replace with inexperienced developers. Go private don't translate to better games. If you know EA culture, so you will understand.

 

[tech3475]

I atleast wish they stop being so greedy

Expect things to get worse, I wont be surprised if they start charging for the mid season transfer update.

I question whether EA will even survive long term or just be gutted to the bare minimum, especially after watch videos about various companies over the years.

I'm genuinely curious, which Company Man? I see both a TV series and a YouTuber.

I presume this one:
https://www.youtube.com/@companyman114