Dragon Age, Battlefield 6, and EA Sports FC owner EA is set to go private in a $55 billion buyout, and a new report claims that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) will own the vast majority of the company should the deal go ahead.
While the buyout hasn't gone through at the time of writing (EA previously said it's "expected to close in Q1 FY27 and is subject to customary closing conditions"), assuming it does, the company will be owned by the PIF, as well as private equity firm Silver Lake, and investment firm Affinity Partners, which was formed by current US President Donald Trump's son-in-law. EA didn't previously break down what the company's ownership would look like in a post-buyout world, but according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the PIF would own 93.4% of the company.
This reportedly comes via a filing from last month with Brazil's antitrust regulator, which also apparently says Silver Lake is set to own 5.5% of the company, while Affinity Partners would own 1.1%. Prior to the deal, the PIF already had a 9.9% stake in EA, which it'll be rolling over as long as the buyout goes ahead. It's already been revealed that the consortium will be financing $20 billion of the deal with debt, too.
Of course, this leaves us with the question of what impact the buyout could potentially have on EA and the content of its games. BioWare veteran Mark Darrah previously suggested: "If this is a PR move for the Saudi government as much as it is a financial one, the studios that don't have much of a track record, what you might do is just come in and put your thumb on the scale and push their messaging in directions that you want, in directions that make you look good, or at the very least steer them away from messaging that makes you look bad. But for the studios that have more of a track record, especially a track record that maybe doesn't line up with your own political views – again, BioWare – you're going to look at that studio and wonder how you make them fit into your new structure."
Furthermore, he suggested that it's "hard to imagine that you have BioWare pivot from having very progressive messaging to having the reverse because it's what the government wants," but admitted he doesn't know "how active this Saudi investment fund has been in pushing its politics into the groups that it invests in," despite believing that "it is going to be a factor going forward."
Ex-BioWare veteran says EA's $55 billion buyout is "likely going to mean layoffs and studio closures and a dramatic reduction in people" thanks to that looming $20 billion of debt.
