For months, the question wasn’t whether it would happen — it was when. Now the answer is in: as of 4 August 2026, Electronic Arts, publisher of Battlefield, The Sims, and EA Sports FC, is no longer a publicly listed company. The deal is done. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund owns it.
The $55 billion acquisition — the largest leveraged buyout in private equity history — formally closed on Tuesday after EA confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that all regulatory approvals had been obtained. Shares of EA were delisted from NASDAQ, ending the company’s 35-year run as a public entity.
How the Deal Got Here
The deal was first announced in September 2025, when EA confirmed it had agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), alongside private equity firm Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Shareholders approved the merger at an extraordinary general meeting in December 2025.
The final regulatory hurdle came from the European Commission, which cleared the transaction on 23 July under EU merger rules, concluding it would not raise competition concerns. A separate review under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, widely seen as the bigger hurdle given the PIF’s state backing, also concluded without blocking the deal.
Deal at a glance: The $55 billion transaction was backed by roughly $36 billion in equity and $20 billion in debt financing committed by JPMorgan. EA stockholders received $210 in cash per share.
Who Owns EA — and in What Proportions
Saudi Arabia’s PIF is firmly in charge. The fund — a state-owned sovereign wealth fund overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and managing roughly $900 billion in assets — holds a 93.4% stake in Electronic Arts following the close of the merger.
Silver Lake, a New York and Menlo Park-based technology investment firm with over $100 billion under management, takes 5.5%. The remaining 1.1% goes to Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded in 2021 by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Affinity is primarily funded by the PIF itself.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson remains in position, and the company’s headquarters stays in Redwood City, California. In a statement, Wilson described the deal as “the next chapter from a position of strength.”
What This Means for the Games You Actually Play
This is where the business story becomes a gaming story. EA’s portfolio includes some of the most culturally significant franchises in the industry: The Sims, long a landmark for LGBTQ+ representation in games; Battlefield, the military shooter that competes directly with Call of Duty; EA Sports FC, one of the world’s best-selling football games; Dragon Age; and Mass Effect.
Saudi Arabia’s conservative stance on LGBTQ+ rights has raised genuine concern about what changes under new ownership. Former BioWare lead writer Trick Weekes put the fear plainly: under Saudi influence, EA’s future might be limited to “guns and football.”
“Anything not EA Sports FC or Battlefield is subject to at least some uncertainty.” — Trick Weekes, former BioWare lead writer
Wilson has insisted the company’s values will “remain unchanged,” but the $20 billion debt burden taken on to finance the deal adds pressure of its own. EA has spent the past year laying off game developers in moves observers connect to trimming costs ahead of and during the acquisition process.
The spectre of increased AI integration in development has also loomed over the deal, with EA having positioned itself as an early adopter of generative tools in game creation — a direction that aligns neatly with reducing headcount.
Saudi Arabia’s Bigger Gaming Ambitions
EA is not the PIF’s first gaming acquisition. The fund already holds a 97% stake in SNK, the Japanese developer behind Fatal Fury and King of Fighters. It also holds minority stakes in Activision Blizzard, Capcom, Nintendo, Take-Two, and Embracer Group, and owns Savvy Game Group, which in turn acquired Scopely — the mobile publisher now operating Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now.
Critics have noted that Saudi Arabia has previously used sport and entertainment investments as a form of sportswashing — burnishing its international image through association with popular culture while deflecting scrutiny of its domestic human rights record.
With EA, the PIF now controls one of the world’s most recognisable entertainment brands. The coming months will reveal whether that control changes what the company makes — and for whom.
