The news leaked a couple of days ago, but now we have confirmation. Electronic Arts has been acquired by an investment group that includes PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for an insanely massive sum of $55 billion. It is easily the biggest acquisition in gaming and puts EA in the position to go private.
What does this mean for Electronic Arts?
The acquisition, as stated in the press release, is scheduled to close in Q1 of the 2027 Fiscal Year. That will make EA a private company and remove it from public trading. PIF already owned approximately 10% of EA before the deal. “Under the terms of the agreement, the Consortium will acquire 100% of EA, with PIF rolling over its existing 9.9% stake in the Company.”
The press release is also filled with the standard corporate-speak associated with purchases. But what this means for the games in the portfolio at the moment is interesting.
On one hand, there are no shareholders to please. Which eliminates the group in gaming that annoys me the most, “the dorks with the calculators.” On the other hand, do we still get the same games? Do we still get the same people making them?
On the surface, it would appear to be the case. “Upon completion of the transaction, EA will remain headquartered in Redwood City, California, and continue to be led by Andrew Wilson as CEO.”
Time will tell exactly how this affects things in the future. We still have some distance to cover before we get there. But I’m hoping this doesn’t result in the type of influence over games that affects content.
And also, let’s hope this doesn’t result in massive layoffs.
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