Electronic Arts (EA) employees are speaking out against the publisher’s proposed $55 billion sale to an investor consortium. If approved, the deal would make EA private under the ownership of Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Silver Lake, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
If this deal goes through, what will this mean for the people who make EA’s games and the games themselves?
Fear of Layoffs and Debt-Fueled Risk
In an open letter, employees and their union, United Videogame Workers-CWA, warn the leveraged sale could endanger jobs. EA plans to take on nearly $20 billion in debt to finance the acquisition. A move that usually signals cost-cutting, which leads to mass layoffs.
“EA is not a struggling company,” the letter states. “With annual revenues reaching $7.5 billion and $1 billion in profit each year, EA is one of the largest video game developers and publishers in the world. EA’s success has been entirely driven by tens of thousands of EA workers whose creativity, skill, and innovation made EA worth buying in the first place. 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”.
Workers are worried about the future of studios that are deemed “less profitable” by EA. BioWare has been cited as a studio that’s at risk, due to lackluster sales or a potential ideological conflict with the Saudi investors.
Employees fear a shift in company priorities toward the most profitable sectors. Budget cuts or studio closures could follow. While the company swears there are no plans for layoffs, things could change.
Creative Freedom Under Scrutiny
The investors involved in the sale have raised red flags. Jared Kushner is Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Saudi Arabia is a very conservative, traditionalist country. Employees should be very concerned about how much influence these investors will have on the quality of the games EA produces. Will the publisher censor the kind of stories developers are allowed to tell? Will EA release games filled with far-right ideology?
It’s bad enough that politicians are weighing in. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren co-authored a letter to EA CEO Andrew Wilson and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. They warned that Saudi ownership could pose a “national security” risk.
PIF has been investing in multiple gaming companies, from Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, Embracer, to Nintendo. Critics have accused Saudi Arabia of “sportswashing”, using high-profile investments in entertainment to distract from human rights violations.
Bigger Questions for the Gaming Industry
The news of EA’s sale raises questions for the gaming industry. How much influence should outside investors have on video games? Can a company maintain its identity regardless of who owns it? What precedent does this set for future acquisitions in the industry? When money talks, who decides what kind of games we should play? This sale could change how major studios operate.
For employees and players alike, the future of EA hangs in the balance.
