EA devs feel "the threat of layoffs at all times," especially after Saudi Arabia acquisition: "It's hard to see how teams or games that underperform wouldn't be dissolved"

Dead Space.

EA developers were already having a bad time before the publisher was acquired by a trio of investors led by Saudi Arabia in a $55 billion buyout. Now the deal is done, EA has gone private, and its developers are feeling more pressure than before.

Anonymous EA workers describe their tense work environment in a report from Game Developer. While EA has been attempting to cure staff concerns about the Saudi Arabia buyout for a year now, sharing a half-hearted guarantee in 2025 that "there will be no immediate changes to your job," one worker says the reality is, "Everybody just assumes they are under the threat of layoffs at all times."