After hearing some rumors last week that Electronic Arts, the folks behind The Sims, BioWare’s games, and a bunch of sports games, was getting scooped up for over $50 billion by Saudi Arabia’s Private Investor Fund, Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, the deal has now been officially confirmed by the company. If everything goes through, this acquisition would be one of the priciest in video game history and would turn Electronic Arts into a privately owned company. The internet isn’t too thrilled about the news, given the questionable new owners. The Saudi Arabian government has a history of trying to use investments in the video game industry to distract from its less-than-stellar human rights record. They’ve put money into things like EVO, the Esports World Cup, and even Pokémon Go. And now they’ve got their hands on one of the biggest video game publishers out there, leading to concerns about what this might mean for the games themselves and the people working at EA.
People are mostly focused on the Saudi Arabia and Kushner angle of this situation, but the real immediate impact could come from Electronic Arts now facing a whopping $20 billion in debt. That could spell bad news for employees, with possible layoffs, more aggressive money-making tactics, and other cost-cutting measures on the horizon. EA owns a ton of popular franchises like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Titanfall, and The Sims, along with classics like Ultima and Wing Commander. And now all of these games are under the control of the Saudi Royal family, which is causing a lot of concern online. Some are even calling for the whole business model of taking on debt to buy a company and then gutting it to pay off that debt to be banned entirely.
Given Saudi Arabia’s treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals, there’s a particular worry about how this might impact games known for their queer representation like The Sims and BioWare’s titles. EA’s CEO has tried to reassure staff that the company’s values and commitment to players won’t change, but with the Saudi government and Jared Kushner in the picture, that’s a tough sell. The Saudis have already made some strange moves with the games they’ve invested in, like putting soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in Fatal Fury. While some developers insist this won’t affect their games, the overall influence of the Saudi government on such a major player in the industry is definitely cause for concern. It’s hard to say what the future holds for EA, its studios, and its IPs, but things are looking pretty grim at the moment.
