If you’ve spent years buying Madden releases every fall or stacking Sims expansion packs without a second thought, here’s some news that reframes every one of those purchases: the company behind those games is now 93.4% owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. EA has entered a definitive agreement to go private in an all-cash $55 billion deal led by the Public Investment Fund, with Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners rounding out the consortium. Once the merger closes, EA exits public markets — and with it, the financial transparency that comes with being a publicly traded company.
Who Owns What – And Who’s Writing the Checks
PIF takes near-total control while a familiar political name quietly holds a stake.
The ownership math is stark. PIF walks away with 93.4% of EA. Silver Lake, the tech-focused investment firm, holds 5.5%. Affinity Partners — the firm Kushner founded in 2021 — gets 1.1%. That last detail deserves more than a footnote. PIF manages roughly $900 billion in assets and reports to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This is not a passive investor buying index funds.
The European Commission approved the transaction on July 23, 2026, stating it raised no competition concerns. EA’s SEC filing confirmed all required approvals had been obtained, with the deal expected to close around August 4, 2026.
- PIF ownership stake: 93.4%
- Silver Lake: 5.5%; Affinity Partners: 1.1%
- Deal value: approximately $55 billion, all-cash
- PIF’s existing gaming footprint: already held assets through Savvy Game Group
- Expected close date: around August 4, 2026
“EA’s values and commitment to players and fans would remain unchanged.” — CEO Andrew Wilson
What Actually Changes for You
Promises of creative freedom run headlong into a pattern critics call sportswashing.
The word circulating most around this deal is “sportswashing” — the strategy of purchasing cultural credibility through entertainment and sports investments. Think LIV Golf, but applied to your entire gaming library. PIF already held stakes across major publishers before this transaction. EA represents an expansion of an established playbook, not a sudden pivot into unfamiliar territory.
Some employees and observers reportedly worry about specific franchises like The Sims under Saudi ownership. EA has publicly promised creative control stays intact, pledging to preserve its “creative freedom and player-first values.” Those assurances are worth tracking — promises tend to get tested once the structure is locked in and the priorities shift. Industry analysts note that the reduced public disclosure requirements of a private company make it harder for outside observers to monitor whether those commitments hold over time.
The real question hanging over every EA player isn’t whether this deal closes. It already will. The question is whether Saudi ownership stays invisible in the credits or eventually shows up in the content itself — in what gets greenlit, what gets shelved, and which creative risks suddenly feel too expensive to take. That’s the kind of change that rarely arrives with an announcement. It tends to show up quietly, one video games franchise decision at a time.
