ALBAWABA - Saudi Arabia has officially acquired gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) for a whopping $55 billion to several groups, including the country's Public Investment Fund.
Formal talks of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund acquiring EA were made public a year ago in September 2025. The gaming giant is best known for games such as FIFA, Mass Effect Trilogy, Dead Space and The Sims.
According to the BBC, in addition to Saudi's Public Investment Fund, the investors include Affinity Partners, led by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, and Silver Lake. This means that EA is going fully private and will no longer be traded on a stock exchange.
Saudi Arabia officially acquires EA for $55 billion
The move sparked debate and speculation on the future of EA, with concerns over possible censorship due to Saudi Arabia's stricter laws and the company going private:
"EA gone to Saudi. Let’s see if this leads to a good development for the game."
"Dang, how many games they got to sell before they break even?"
"It's funny people thinking this is a good thing. Microtransactions galore incoming."
"Problematic. Not that they weren’t already."
According to Engadget, while the takeover is considered the largest buyout in history, EA is now $20 billion in debt and is forced to pay it back over time.
