Left: Attendees gather in front of an Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) logo displayed on a screen during the company's EA Play event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Saturday, June 10, 2017. EA revealed two new titles along with the annual iterations of the company's sports games, as well as unveiling the highly anticipated "Star Wars: Battlefront II" open-world multiplayer gameplay. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Right: Andrew Wilson, chief executive officer of Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), listens during the Wall Street Journal Tech Live global technology conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. The event brings together investors, founders, and executives to foster innovation and drive growth within the tech industry. Photographer: Martina Albertazzi/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Electronic Arts has officially now passed into the hands of Saudi Arabia—specifically, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, as well as firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. It is with a grim lack of surprise that I now inform you that this will, reportedly, involve a lot of layoffs.
The news comes courtesy of Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who posted to Bluesky: "EA officially goes private tonight, meaning: EA will no longer trade on the NASDAQ for the first time in 36 years, all stockholders of EA (including many employees) will receive $210/share, [and] EA will take on $18 billion (!) in debt, putting it on the hook to pay ~$1.8 billion/year in interest.
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