Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, together with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, will take Electronic Arts private in a deal valuing the publisher at $55 billion — the largest buyout in video game industry history, announced September 29, 2025.

The consortium offered $210 per share in cash, a roughly 25% premium over EA's pre-announcement trading price. Once the transaction closes, EA will delist from Nasdaq and operate as a privately held company under the ownership group, with CEO Andrew Wilson remaining in place to run the business.

For EA's roughly 14,000 employees, the immediate question is job security. Take-private deals of this size are typically financed with heavy debt, and private owners usually pursue cost discipline to service it.

What does the takeover change for EA workers?

The gaming workforce has absorbed severe disruption in recent years. Industry trackers estimate more than 35,000 game workers lost jobs between 2023 and 2025 across layoffs at EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Sony, Embracer and dozens of smaller studios. EA itself cut several hundred roles in 2024 and shut down studios including Ridgeline Games in Seattle.

Workers and union organizers argue that private equity-style ownership rarely improves conditions. The deal gives a sovereign wealth fund — PPIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — direct control over one of the West's largest publishers, and that concentration of ownership worries labor advocates who have spent years pushing for better protections in game development.

Unlike publicly traded EA, the private company will face no quarterly shareholder scrutiny. That cuts both ways: management gains freedom for long-term planning, but employees and observers lose the transparency that public filings provide.

What does it mean for the industry?

The $55 billion price dwarfs Microsoft's $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition in nominal gaming-deal terms only when measured as a take-private of a single publisher at premium valuation — and it signals that sovereign capital now views major Western publishers as acquisition targets.

The deal continues consolidation in an industry where a handful of companies control the biggest franchises. EA owns FIFA/EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, Battlefield, The Sims and Apex Legends — licenses and live-service properties that generate recurring revenue.

For rival studios and publishers, the signal is clear: capital at this scale is available, and more take-private bids could follow. For developers, that means fewer independent employers of EA's size and more concentrated bargaining power on the employer side.

What happens next?

The transaction requires EA shareholder approval and regulatory clearance in the US. Shareholders will vote on the $210-per-share offer at a meeting yet to be scheduled, with closing expected in fiscal Q1 2026 — the point when any restructuring decisions under the new owners would become visible.

Watch the close date. What the new owners do with EA's headcount and studio footprint in the first two quarters after closing will define what this deal actually means for game workers.