An avid gamer himself, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman has taken control of one of the world’s biggest gaming brands.
Saudi Arabia has purchased Electronic arts with its sovereign wealth fund for $55 billion in a consrtium-lead initative.
The deal, originally announced in September 2025 and completed this week, takes Electronic Arts off the public markets after approximately 36 years as a listed company. EA shareholders received $210 in cash for each share, representing a 25% premium to the company’s unaffected share price immediately before the takeover was announced.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will hold approximately 93.4% of Electronic Arts, giving it overwhelming control of the company. Private-equity group Silver Lake will own around 5.5%, while Affinity Partners, the investment company founded and led by Jared Kushner, will hold approximately 1.1%. PIF already owned around 9.9% of EA before the takeover and rolled that stake into the new company.
Electronic Arts has produced and published some of the most recognisable franchises in gaming history, including The Sims, FIFA — now EA Sports FC — Need for Speed, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Apex Legends and Madden NFL.
The acquisition therefore hands Saudi Arabia effective control over an extraordinary portfolio of gaming intellectual property that has shaped the gaming industry for decades.
EA will continue to be headquartered in Redwood City, California, while Andrew Wilson will remain its chief executive officer. The buyers have said they intend to invest in the company’s franchises, technology and future growth rather than dismantle the group following the acquisition.
The consortium committed approximately $36 billion in equity, combined with $20 billion in debt financing arranged through JPMorgan Chase. Around $18 billion of that debt was originally expected to be drawn when the transaction closed. The scale of the borrowing makes the transaction the largest leveraged buyout ever completed.
For the financial year ending March 2026, Electronic Arts reported record net bookings of $8.03 billion, up 9%, while revenue reached $7.53 billion. Operating cash flow increased by 23% to approximately $2.55 billion, and the company held nearly $2.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of March.
Mohammed bin Salman launched the kingdom’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy in 2022, with the stated ambition of transforming Saudi Arabia into a major global centre for gaming and esports by 2030.
PIF has subsequently spent billions building a gaming portfolio through its Savvy Games Group, which owns mobile-games publisher Scopely and the ESL FACEIT Group, one of the biggest esports organisations in the world.
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