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Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is set to make its biggest move in gaming yet as early discussions about buying into EA have grown into a near total takeover confirmed by new filings.
It’s the biggest acquisition the industry has ever witnessed, and it puts one of gaming’s major publishers in the hands of a single, overwhelmingly powerful owner. The move leaves many wondering how things will unfold.
How Did This Buyout Turn Into a 93% Ownership Deal?
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is about to move from being just another big shareholder in gaming to effectively owning one of the industry’s biggest publishers.
After months of rumors about a major push into Electronic Arts, new regulatory filings have finally laid out the numbers, and they’re far more one-sided than early reports suggested.
Under the agreed $55 billion leveraged buyout, PIF will walk away with around 93.4% of EA, while US-based partners Silver Lake and Affinity Partners are left with slivers of 5.5% and 1.1% each.
On paper it’s a three-way consortium, but in practice it means EA will sit almost entirely under Saudi control once the deal closes.
How Does This Deal Fit Into Saudi Arabia’s Wider Investment Strategy?
This takeover sits neatly inside Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy of using the PIF to diversify away from oil and expand its influence across global entertainment.
Over the last few years, the fund has poured billions into football, esports, publishers, and media companies, and EA is simply the latest (and arguably biggest) piece.
For EA, the deal works like a massive leveraged takeover, with about $36 billion coming from equity and another $20 billion added in debt, marking the biggest buyout the gaming industry has ever witnessed.
Because PIF already held a sizeable stake in EA before the deal, it will roll that existing position into the new structure and still needs to inject around $29 billion in fresh cash to hit its 93.4% share.
Silver Lake and Affinity are part of the deal in name more than influence, especially since PIF also backs their funds.
Their involvement mostly helps the transaction go through smoothly rather than giving them any real control.
Will EA Still Control Its Own Games and Development Decisions?
On paper, EA’s leadership is still in charge, with filings and statements stressing that creative decisions, upcoming projects, and overall direction stay under the company’s current team.
Andrew Wilson keeps his role as CEO and EA stays rooted in Redwood City as it transitions into a privately owned company.
The idea is that without the constant push of quarterly earnings, EA’s teams can finally settle into long-term projects and rely on their new owners’ resources and global reach in sports and entertainment.
The reality is that moves this big almost always create aftereffects that don’t surface on the first day.
That much debt has to be serviced, and history suggests that large leveraged buyouts often lead to cost-cutting, restructuring, or selling off parts of the business to keep lenders happy.
That’s why some observers expect pressure on budgets, headcounts, or riskier projects once the dust settles, even if the official line is that nothing fundamental will change.
At the same time, EA is far from a niche asset: between FIFA/EA Sports FC, Madden, The Sims, Battlefield, and a stack of live-service titles, it generates steady revenue that makes it a tempting long-term cash cow for a sovereign wealth fund planning decades ahead rather than just the next quarter.
Why Are People Concerned About PIF Owning Almost All of EA?
The scale of PIF’s stake has started a wider debate about a major gaming publisher being owned by a foreign state fund.
Critics see the takeover as part of a long-running effort to reshape Saudi Arabia’s reputation through major entertainment buys.
Some players are thinking about practical issues, like potential censorship, stricter content rules, and the possibility that sensitive themes or political elements might be reduced to keep the majority owner comfortable.
Some people take a more jaded view, arguing that EA’s track record with monetisation and corporate choices is already rough enough, so a PIF takeover would likely just reinforce the company’s role as a profit engine rather than some push for ideological influence.
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