On September 26, 2025, EA (Electronic Arts) stunned many in the video game industry. The Saudi Private Investment Fund (SPIF) acquired EA along with Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. In total, the deal was valued at $55 billion, a record-shattering sale in the gaming industry, second only to Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of the Call of Duty publishers Activision Blizzard.
The major concerns, however, regarding this recent buyout are how it could impact employee stability and the fear of potential layoffs at the company. EA has been notorious for not caring about employees, as demonstrated by the many lawsuits that they have faced. As quoted by a contributing writer, Lawrence Bonk, for Engadget, the video gaming website, “EA is not a struggling company, […] Yet we, the very people who will be jeopardized as a result of this deal, were not represented at all when this buyout was negotiated or discussed.” This shows a lack of emphasis towards those who put in large amounts of work and dedication for the company, and many are concerned that the company did not care in the past about laying people off of their jobs just to get money into the hands of those who needed to profit.
A prevalent fact that many fans of the company usually complain about is micro-transactions, which have been one of the key parts of how EA has been able to make a profit from their largest game IPs. In general, most commercially recognized companies have an IP that helps protect their image and property rights to help make sure that they don’t lose any money from it. This does come at a cost, however, for those who love games that are under the EA IPs, such as the Battlefront Games, which are under the Star Wars Franchise IP, which expired in 2023. With the recent acquisition, this most likely means that these IPs are going to be lost because of the loan that was taken out for the deal to be made. There is most likely going to be a need or pressure from higher-ups to make a profit, and in turn, EA consumer community and other gamer-friendly consumers online know that this new rise in power only means a downfall in the idea of trying to come up with something new rather than the same old IPs that many may know: FIFA or FC, EA NHL, MADDEN, Battlefield and the F1.
The sale of the longtime running game studio is the largest leveraged buyout on record, as it was reported by reporter Martina Castellanos, for Forbes: “The consortium of the Saudi’s PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners will acquire 100% of EA.” This means that they will have taken over most of what is left of the iconic Silicon Valley-based gaming company. They will likely be keeping the current CEO of the company; however, this is a major upside for both the gaming industry, its fans and everyone involved. Let it be known that the company will not be publicly traded or listed as of recently under the new ownership.
Here at Mendham, 10th grader Colin Reap shared his opinions on the EA acquisition, and he described that EA certainly wasn’t known for always being a shining light of brightness. He said, “I definitely do think this will cause some sort of tension within this [gaming] community as a whole, considering if I’m hoping they set some higher standards, and, you know, tone down the micro transactions, but just because they got bought out by a different company, I don’t think they will change.” He then went on record to describe that most companies like this usually prioritize money over the fans, and that may be a major concern.
We will need to monitor how this unfolds over the next few months and watch for any indicators of financial and product satisfaction.
