This article was originally published on October 10, 2025 - read the full issue

By Piers Harding-Rolls

EA is set to be acquired for $55 billion by an investor consortium comprising Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Ampere Analysis breaks down the business implications.

What does this mean for EA?

Under these new private owners, EA's growth potential is likely enhanced. But to what extent depends on how integrated EA becomes with PIF's existing game businesses, and how much access the company has to Silver Lake's other portfolio companies including Endeavor. Most of the synergies will be focused on EA's sports game business and how it more actively brings its IP to sports more generally.

Access to a cross-section of sports franchises, esports businesses, mobile gaming expertise and entertainment businesses gives the owners a better armoury to build a long-term growth strategy for EA.

Access to Scopely, which comes under PIF's gaming division, Savvy Games, could enhance EA's potential in the mobile games market. EA's mobile gaming revenue remains relatively underdeveloped compared to its console and PC gaming business. EA's overall revenue growth in recent years has been benign, so the opportunity to drive growth and build out a long-term strategy by bringing together a cross-section of expertise is attractive to both parties. A more diversified strategy could offset some of the huge investments being made in triple-A gaming and drive broader value from the same IP investments.

Beyond that, going private means less onus on EA delivering on quarterly targets to satisfy the public markets and potentially more focus on long-term strategies and investments. The chances of EA being acquired or merging with another major game company became less likely as conditions for this size of deal deteriorated over the last two years. The PIF is probably one of a handful of candidates that could effectively fund this deal and it helped that it already had a ten per cent stake in the company. For EA shareholders, this represents a good deal considering the industry backdrop.

However, EA is likely to face some more negative commercial ramifications as a result of this deal. First, with an additional $20 billion in debt to service, the new owners will be looking to increase margin, cut excess spending and rationalise the company's workforce to deliver more free cashflow. According to an FT article on the deal, the consortium hopes that the introduction of AI tools and technologies will help cut the cost of development and drive up profitability and in turn the value of the company.

Ampere believes AI's impact on game development is set to escalate, but how this impacts staffing and time to market for AAA games remains to be seen. It is likely there will need to be a reduction of costs through other means as well over the next two to three years. Ampere also expects there to be some immediate talent migration as a result of cultural differences between western staff and Saudi ownership. However, Ampere does not expect the ownership to majorly impact consumer adoption of EA's new game releases.

What does this mean for Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund?

For the PIF, aside from continuing on with its general strategy to diversify away from its fossil-fuel economy, acquiring EA represents a watershed moment for its sports, games and esports portfolio. The PIF and its gaming business, Savvy Games, have been active in acquiring shares in major game companies over the last four years including the $4.9 billion acquisition of US mobile game company Scopely, but this investment represents a step change in commitment. The acquisition adds a top-ten game publisher to the portfolio and a large collection of brands and franchises.

EA also fits into the PIF's strategy of accumulating soft power through gaming, entertainment and sports and, because of this, the value EA offers Saudi Arabia cannot simply be measured by the company's financial performance. EA's sports game business and its sponsorship of multiple soccer leagues globally means it is a perfect vehicle for raising the profile of the country across the areas of sports, games and esports. This also accelerates PIF's target to build a domestic game industry, with Ampere expecting EA to establish a studio within Saudi Arabia as a result of this deal.

The deal has yet to close and will be scrutinised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. With Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners involved, Ampere expects the deal to go ahead without any major conditions being applied.

What does this mean for the wider industry?

There are a few things to note. First, this deal underlines the growing role that Saudi Arabia's PIF now plays in the global game industry. It is likely that there will be further acquisitions to come as it continues its industry diversification. While Asian publishers – and in particular Tencent, NetEase and Krafton – have been very active in investing and acquiring international game companies, Saudi Arabia's huge commitment adds to the dynamic of the global order of the industry.

Second, amid a slow-growth market environment and increasing content costs, consolidation is still active as game companies look for ways to reduce costs, build market share, drive growth and gain more value from content investments. Consolidation generally means aggregation and reduction in ongoing costs including those related to staffing, so there will be more of that to come. Deals involving the biggest publishers are generally very few and far between. Ampere is not expecting a domino effect from this deal across other major game publishers, but it does highlight the increased interest from private equity in the game market.

Third, the crossover between sports games, esports and traditional sports is becoming more established. While much of the talk on transmedia and franchise diversification focuses on TV and film adaptations, EA's gradual embedding into the sports market will likely accelerate with this deal and bring the two industries closer together. Finally, as EA becomes private in 2026, there is a knock-on impact on performance transparency for one of the biggest game publishers globally. Third-party estimates of company performance will become increasingly important for competitors moving forward.

This article was originally published on October 10, 2025 - read the full issue