EA’s Rumored $55B Saudi Buyout Faces Pre-emptive Fire from US Senators and Developer Unions
2025-10-17
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A corporate deal that hasn't even been announced is already drawing heavy fire from two very different, very powerful fronts. A potential take-private acquisition of Electronic Arts by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), rumored to be valued at approximately $55 billion, is facing a coordinated pre-emptive challenge from both US lawmakers and game developer unions Eurogamer. The pushback transforms a potential boardroom maneuver into a charged public debate over national security, foreign influence, and the future of labor in the games industry.
The first salvo came from Capitol Hill, where a group of US senators including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders has formally requested that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) investigate any such deal. In a sharply worded letter, the senators expressed "profound concern about the foreign influence and national security risks posed by the potential acquisition" GamesRadar+. Their concerns are not abstract; they worry that the Saudi government, through the PIF, could leverage control over a cultural titan like EA to censor content, spread propaganda, or access sensitive data from millions of American users. The letter explicitly states that "the Saudi government has a history of leveraging its investments to attempt to shape international opinion" PC Gamer.
While Washington scrutinizes the deal through a geopolitical lens, workers on the ground are raising alarms about its financial structure. The Communications Workers of America (CWA), a union representing game developers, has launched a petition urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to "scrutinize this deal closely" from a labor perspective PC Gamer. The union fears the acquisition would be a leveraged buyout, saddling the new, private EA with immense debt. To service that debt, the CWA warns, the first and most likely cuts would come from the workforce.
The CWA has been blunt in its assessment, stating that the "trend of private equity firms acquiring and holding these companies is a grim one for workers" because the new owners’ first move is often to cut jobs PC Gamer. The union’s petition frames potential layoffs not as an unfortunate byproduct of business, but as a deliberate move to enrich financiers at the expense of creators. "If jobs are lost or studios are closed due to this deal," the CWA stated, "that would be a choice, not a necessity" GamesRadar+.
This dual-front opposition marks a significant moment for the games industry, where major acquisitions are increasingly being contested before the ink is dry. The concerns from both senators and developers have thrust a rumored transaction into the national spotlight, highlighting the growing unease with the PIF's expanding influence in the global entertainment market Video Games Chronicle.
For now, the situation remains in a state of high-stakes limbo. The acquisition itself is still unconfirmed, and neither Electronic Arts nor the Saudi PIF have issued public statements responding to the specific concerns raised Kotaku. While petitions have been sent and letters dispatched, it is not yet known whether the FTC or CFIUS will launch official investigations. What is clear, however, is that should this deal materialize, it will do so under an unprecedented level of scrutiny from the corridors of power and the studios themselves.