Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson says the company's acquisition by a consortium made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners investment firm, and private equity firm Silver Lake represents "a new era of opportunity," and that "our values and our commitment to players and fans around the world remain unchanged."
Wilson shared the sentiment in a memo sent to employees shortly after the deal, valued at $55 billion, was made public.
"This moment is a recognition of your creativity, your innovation, and your passion," Wilson said. "You have built some of the world’s most iconic IP, created stories that have inspired global communities, and helped shape culture through interactive experiences. Everything we have achieved—and everything that lies ahead—is because of you.
"We are entering a new era of opportunity. This is [[link]] one of the largest and most significant investments ever made in the entertainment industry. Our new partners bring deep experience across sports, gaming, and entertainment. They are committed with conviction to EA—they believe in our people, our leadership, and the long-term vision we are now building together."
I'm not sure how much "deep experience" the new partners—in reality, new owners—really bring to the table. Affinity Partners is owned by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who to the best of my knowledge is not a big videogame aficionado but does have significant financial involvement with Saudi Arabia, perhaps most notably a $2 billion investment in Affinity Partners made by the PIF just six months after Kusher left his role as senior adviser to the president during the first Trump administration.
The PIF is known for being a big player in gaming and esports, with holdings—directly or through its Savvy Games Group subsidiary—in Capcom, Embracer, ESL, Nexon, Nintendo, Take-Two, and more. It's also faced accusations that it's using these properties as a form of "sportswashing" to distract from its human rights record as well as more specific allegations, such as the finding by multiple Western intelligence agencies that Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammad bin Salman—also the chairman of the PIF—ordered the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Saudi Arabia has also faced allegations of sportswashing in actual sports, most notably the PIF's controversial takeover of Newcastle United FC in 2021.
Wilson previously expressed great enthusiasm for the potential impact of AI on game development in 2024, when he took a big bong rip (figuratively, you understand) before waxing poetic about billions of people around the world "creating personal content and expanding and enhancing the universes that we create"—and also how to use it to make the company 30% more efficient, which if you've been following along for any length of time at all you'll recognize as another way of saying 'layoffs.'
For now, though, Wilson—who will remain in his position as CEO after the deal is done, for some time at least—is grateful to the people at EA who made the $55 billion buyout possible. And surely not just because he and other senior management will likely have been sat on very sizeable stock options before the sale happened.
