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A GROUP OF buyers led by a Saudi Arabian firm has completed a $55 billion (€47.76 billion) buyout of Electronic Arts (EA), a video gaming giant behind Fifa – now rebranded as EA Sports FC – and The Sims.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) led the consortium for the deal including US investment firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.

Affinity Partners is the Miami-based firm founded by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and makes investments on behalf of the country’s government. Other ventures include ownership of 80% of Newcastle United FC, investments in Uber and banking institutions.

The European Commission decided it had no concerns around competition and approved the buyout in June. However, the leveraged buyout has attracted consternation as many are concerned the profile of the new owners will lead to a clampdown in some of its more liberal-minded games, like The Sims.

A number of fans of the life-simulation games series said they are worried the takeover will lead to major changes, such as a “root out of any and all LGBTQIA+ content“.

Others have described the buyout as a “sellout” and expressed disappointment at Kushner’s firm being involved in the deal due to his close ties with Trump and the current US presidential administration.

The move has privatised the company, which was previously traded publicly. EA stockholders will receive $210 (€180) in cash for each share of EA common stock they owned as of the closing.

EA confirmed the completion of the acquisition and said it will fuel innovation and development at the company – despite EA taking on $20 billion (€17.37 billion) in debt to complete the acquisition.

The deputy governor and head of international investments at PIF, Turqi Alnowaiser, said that as a minority investor in the company for over five years, the Saudi fund has a “deep understanding of EA’s unique platform”.

EA was founded by a former Apple employee in 1982 and grew rapidly, now one of the leading video game developers and owners in the world. In the 2026 fiscal year, EA posted net revenue of approximately $7.5 billion (€6.51 billion).

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