Video game developer Electronic Arts has taken a sweetheart deal to go private.
Private equity firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners will buy the company alongside Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Silver Lake was recently named one of the new owners of TikTok, while Affinity Partners was founded by Jared Kushner, former senior adviser to President Trump and husband of first daughter Ivanka Trump.
‘They’ve been ruining entire franchises.’
EA’s shareholders will receive $210 per share in cash, a premium of 25% on the company’s closing share price on September 25, Variety reported.
Stocks had dipped to a two-year low in January after massive failures from games Dragon Age: Veilguard and EA FC 25. The company lost $6 billion in market value due to poor sales, much of which was colloquially attributed to adherence to woke doctrine and a lack of product care.
For example, Dragon Age: Veilguard missed its sales projection by nearly 50% after fans pointed out the game had prioritized wild identity politics through pronoun options, the masculinization of female characters, and even transgender-surgery scars. The game also featured its monsters giving lectures about how to properly apologize for misgendering someone, along with a monster arguing with parents about its gender identity.
RELATED: Video game faces backlash from female gamers over focus on ‘top surgery scars’ and trans characters
Paris Games Week is an international trade fair for video games and esport. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
The buyout is expected to close around June 2026, the end of the first quarter of EA’s 2027 fiscal year. The company’s headquarters will remain in Redwood City, California, even after the takeover.
Andrew Wilson, who will remain the CEO, called the sale “a powerful recognition” of the company’s “remarkable work.”
“Looking ahead, we will continue to push the boundaries of entertainment, sports, and technology, unlocking new opportunities,” he added.
Kushner called EA an “extraordinary company with a world-class management team and a bold vision for the future.”
Kushner added that he “grew up playing their games” and now enjoys them with his kids.
While optimism for the future of the company is booming, fans and those within the industry are pulling no punches as to why they think the company is being sold — it was going in the worst direction possible.
“Seems like going private might not be bad. Perhaps they’ll be able to focus on making profitable games that people like rather than trying to please the woke because of ‘public’ pressure,” Marty O’Donnell, composer for the iconic Halo franchise, told Blaze News.
Moving forward, O’Donnell shared the new owners’ optimism, saying, “Looks like they’re in for the long haul rather than dismantling and selling the pieces.”
Avid gamer and online influencer Ian Miles Cheong called the buyout a good development and told Blaze News, “It means games they make will prioritize the players and not the woke agenda.”
“They’ve been ruining entire franchises with the s**t they’ve been putting out for years. They wrecked all their latest games with pronouns and f**ked up Dragon Age beyond all recognition,” he continued. “I’m sure it becoming privately owned will make the company a lot more driven [and] directed. I can’t see the new owners being willing to burn their profits on indie LGBT adventures.”
RELATED: EA stock crashes after ultra woke Dragon Age: Veilguard misses sales target by nearly 50%
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Cheong described the current status of EA as a company that was likely in its dying years, becoming nothing more than a yearly soccer game factory.
This same sentiment had spiraled out of control regarding EA’s sports division, which had angered fans even with their annual sports games.
After the EA FC 25 debacle, the 2026 version has been poorly received, garnering just a 52% rating on game-purchasing platform Steam at the time of this writing.
The NHL 26 forums on EA’s own website are rampant with complaints that the game is nonfunctioning, and while these types of complaints have been part and parcel for decades, they seem to have reached critical mass.
Furthermore, the latest installment of the usual hit Madden NFL franchise already has a 30% discount on the PlayStation store less than six weeks after its release.
It seems not even the record-setting sales of EA’s returning college football series could save the company from game over. Perhaps outside investors will finally offer an extra life.
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