Nearing

A new report claims that Electronic Arts is close to finalizing a deal to go completely private via a $50 billion buyout being put together by a group of investors that includes multiple private-equity companies as well as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The deal could be unveiled as soon as next week.

On September 26, The Wall Street Journal reported that massive video game publisher EA, the company behind popular and lucrative annual sports games like Madden, was currently negotiating a deal with various private equity companies, including Silver Lake, that could be worth nearly $50 billion, according to sources that spoke with the outlet.  The groups involved in the deal include the controversial Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which has invested a lot of money in the video game industry over the last few years.

Kotaku has contacted EA about the reported deal.

Update: 9/26/2025: 5:30 p.m. EST: CNBC reports that among the investors is Affinity Partners. Notably, this is an investment company founded in 2021 by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Kushner’s firm relies heavily on money from Saudi Arabia. Original story continues below.

The Wall Street Journal’s report claims that the deal is still being negotiated and discussions over price are still ongoing, but sources say EA could be valued at $50 billion. The outlet claims this would likely be the largest leveraged buyout of a company in history. Previously, the largest similar deal occurred in 2007 when a group of private-equity firms spent $32 billion on buying up Texas utility company TXU. This new reported deal, which has not yet been officially announced by EA or any parties involved, would be nearly twice as big, if you don’t factor in inflation.

If this all goes through, it’s just one more (very) big video game deal that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund has made in recent years as part of the country’s government, trying to “sportswash” or, in this case, “gamewash” its abysmal human rights reputation and the fact that the nation is still ruled by a literal monarch. In recent years, the PIF has invested billions across multiple gaming companies, including Activision, Blizzard,  Nintendo, Capcom, and Nexon. It also completely owns King of Fighters and Metal Slug publisher SNK Corp, which reportedly led to the devs being forced to add famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo to the fighting game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves earlier this year.

The PIF is run by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and these investments are part of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy established during Salman’s mid-decade rise to power. While the plan is presented as a way for the country to diversify its oil-centric economy, the reality is much different. Here’s what former Kotaku writer Ian Walker wrote about Salman, the PIF, and Saudi Arabia’s plan in 2022:

In reality, however, Saudi Vision 2030 is largely a propaganda campaign focused on whitewashing Saudi Arabia’s atrocious human rights record. The regressive monarchy seemingly hopes that aligning itself with entertainment industries around the world might loosen the purse strings of businesses wary of investing in the oil-rich country’s economy, especially with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the ongoing, U.S.-backed Yemeni genocide still looming overhead.

So yeah, while it might sound nice that EA reportedly won’t answer to stockholders in the near future, the publisher’s potential new owners and investors are much, much worse than some annoying dudes in suits yelling about the number not going up fast enough.

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