Electronic Arts is no longer traded on the stock market. On Tuesday, the publisher confirmed that its $55 billion take-private deal has officially closed, handing ownership to a consortium made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), tech-focused firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.
The transaction was first announced last September and cleared its final regulatory hurdles in late July, including approval from the European Commission on July 23. EA had told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it expected the merger to complete around the close of trading on August 4, and it did.
Who now owns EA
According to The Verge, the PIF will own roughly 93.4 percent of the new company. Polygon notes the PIF is Saudi Arabia's state-owned sovereign wealth fund, overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and manages around $900 billion in assets. Affinity Partners, founded by Kushner (son-in-law of sitting U.S. President Donald Trump) in 2021, is largely financed by the PIF itself. Silver Lake is a New York and California based firm with about $102 billion under management.
The Verge reports the deal includes $20 billion of debt financing, which it describes as the largest leveraged buyout ever. That debt load raises the pressure on EA to justify the purchase, and could push the company toward bigger changes.
In a press release, Kushner said EA "has created stories, characters, and communities that have become part of everyday life for hundreds of millions of people," adding that his group is "excited to support the company as it continues to reach new audiences."
The concerns that came with it
EA has publicly insisted little will change day to day. The company says it will "maintain creative control" and keep its "track record of creative freedom and player-first values." CEO Andrew Wilson, who Polygon reports earned $38 million last year, said EA's "values and our commitment to players and fans around the world remain unchanged."
Many workers and players are not reassured. When the deal was announced, the United Videogame Workers CWA warned that any studio closures or layoffs tied to the sale "would be a choice, not a necessity, made to pad investors' pockets." The PIF has drawn criticism for what critics call "sportswashing," using entertainment investments to soften Saudi Arabia's image amid a record of human rights abuses, including anti-LGBTQ laws.
Those concerns land hard on franchises like The Sims, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, which are popular with LGBTQIA+ players. Polygon points to precedent: the PIF-owned SNK added Cristiano Ronaldo and DJ Salvatore Ganacci, both with Saudi ties, to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. At the Develop conference last month, a Sims developer said of any hypothetical mandate to cut the game's diversity, "I don't think it's gonna happen and I would fight it tooth and nail."
What it means for players
For now, nothing about EA's release slate has been formally announced as changing. But with a massive debt load to service and new owners whose politics differ sharply from parts of EA's audience, the studios behind The Sims, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Battlefield are worth watching closely. Whether creative freedom survives contact with the balance sheet is the question the next few years will answer.