After reports sprouted up last week that Electronic Arts, the publisher behind The Sims, BioWare’s catalog, and most of your favorite sports games, was being acquired for over $50 billion in a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Private Investor Fund, Silver Lake, and the Jared Kushner-owned Affinity Partners, the company has officially confirmed the deal. If approved, the acquisition would be one of the most expensive in the history of the video game industry and would make Electronic Arts a privately held company. Given the questionable ownership, the internet is not taking the news well.
The Saudi Arabian government’s attempts at sportswashing away the stink of its dire human rights laws, as evidenced by its investments in various facets of the video game industry, are well-documented at this point. Its money runs so deep that it has investments and ownerships in things like fighting game tournament EVO, the Esports World Cup, and even Pokémon Go. Now it has a lot of money in one of the biggest video game publishers on the planet, and the internet is worried about what it means not just for the games themselves, but for the people working under EA’s umbrella.
Given Saudi Arabia’s treatment of queer people, a fair bit of concern has been extended specifically to The Sims and to BioWare, the developer of Mass Effect and Dragon Age, all of which have been trailblazers for queer representation in video games. EA CEO Andrew Wilson has stated in an email statement to staff that the company’s “values and [its] commitment to players and fans around the world remain unchanged,” but considering that both the Saudi Arabian government and Jared Kushner, the owner of Affinity Partners and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, now own the publisher, that’s not exactly convincing.
BioWare… u gotta escape… you gotta leave now… someone please buy BioWare before EA hands it over
— jas | comms open? | 🏳️🌈 (@jxsmin_twts) September 27, 2025
The Saudi government’s influence on the games it has money in has thus far resulted in some bizarre shit, such as soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo showing up in the latest Fatal Fury, though developer SNK has insisted the company’s sale to PIF would not affect its games. Beyond that, the Saudi Arabian government has been hosting events with industry figureheads like Hideo Kojima. The nation’s monetary investment in video games has been extensive, but buying one of the biggest companies in the space, whose games are played by millions every year, is almost certainly the farthest-reaching move it’s made thus far. We don’t know what impact this will have on EA, its studios, and its IP in the future, but in this moment, things look bleak.
