On the 29th September 2025, Electronic Arts (EA) announced its agreement to be acquired by the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. This is set to be the largest leveraged buyout in history for $55 billion (£47.7 b), with approximately $20 billion (£14.7b) being financed with debt. Investor pressure to repay this debt could lead to further aggressive monetisation in the form of microtransactions, pay-to-play systems, gambling-style loot box mechanics, subscription models and intrusive in-game advertisements. This comes at the expense of creative innovation, quality control and employee security.

The gaming industry is bigger than the movie, TV and music industry combined. Electronic Arts is a major global games publisher with a significant footprint in the United Kingdom, employing thousands at its Guildford offices. Creating games such as EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA), Star Wars, Battlefield and The Sims, it also has a vast cultural significance and consumer marketplace. A change in ownership at this scale raises serious concern for UK consumers, workers, national interest and security, and the integrity of the gaming industry at large. 

The proposed buyers pose significant risks to international security in the form of sovereign marketplace control, and blatant misuse of political power in the form of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, a former white house senior advisor and current acting peace envoy to the Middle East. With the ongoing war in the Middle East, soliciting funds from Saudi Arabia and facilitating a deal between the PIF and American-owned Electronic Arts poses a high-level conflict of interest. He is currently under investigation in the US House Judiciary Committee for national security risk and likely violation of federal law. 

There are also significant concerns surrounding the main buyer, the PIF being a Saudi Arabian state-controlled and funded company. This investment represents PIF’s broader strategy of investing in gaming and esports as a tool to improve its international image. The fund has faced criticisms of “Esports washing”, already having large market control of the gaming industry with significant holdings in Nintendo, Niantic (Pokémon Go), Capcom, Take-Two (Rockstar Games), SNK, Scopely (Monopoly Go), The Esports World Cup, FACEIT, Nexon, Activision Blizzard and EA. 

We are calling on the UK Government, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and relevant regulators to investigate the proposed acquisition and assess its implications for competition, consumer protection, workers’ rights, data security, and the long term health of the gaming industry.

We do not believe this deal is in the best interest of the public.