Saudi Arabia Acquires EA Publisher of Popular Games Like Madden and Apex Legends

Game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has been acquired by Saudi Arabia for $55 billion, marking a significant shift in the gaming industry. EA is responsible for popular titles like Madden, Apex Legends, and more. The acquisition's impact on EA's creative direction remains to be seen.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund closed its acquisition of EA on August 4, 2026, completing a $55 billion all-cash deal that takes the Madden and Apex Legends publisher private in the largest leveraged buyout in corporate history.

Shareholders are being cashed out at $210 per share, a 25% premium to EA's $168.32 close on September 25, 2025, the day before deal talk first surfaced. The agreement was signed September 29, 2025, and the transaction surpasses the $45 billion TXU buyout from 2007 as the biggest all-cash LBO ever completed.

The buying consortium is led by PIF, which controls roughly 93% of the group and is rolling its existing 9.9% EA stake into the new private structure rather than cashing out. Silver Lake holds about 5.5% and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners holds roughly 1%. Andrew Wilson stays on as CEO, and EA remains headquartered in Redwood City.

Going private removes EA from quarterly public-market reporting and the debt load used to fund the buyout could shape how aggressively the company invests in new titles versus established franchises. Some developers have raised concerns that sovereign-backed, franchise-heavy ownership could push EA toward safer sequels over creative risk-taking.