What Saudi Arabia’s role in the Electronic Arts buyout tells us about image, power and ‘game-washing’

Fri, 3 Oct 2025 10:50:52 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/what-saudi-arabias-role-in-the-electronic-arts-buyout-tells-us-about-image-power-and-game-washing-266359>

"Video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest video game
companies in the world behind games such as The Sims and Battlefield, has
been sold to a consortium of buyers for US$55 billion (about A$83 billion). It
is potentially the largest-ever buyout funded by private equity firms. Not AI,
nor mining or banking, but video games.

The members of the consortium include: Silver Lake Partners, an American
private global equity firm focusing on technology; the Public Investment Fund
(PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund; and the investment firm Affinity
Partners, run by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of American President Donald Trump.

The consortium will purchase all of the publicly traded company’s shares,
making it private. But while the consortium and EA’s shareholders will likely
be celebrating – each share was valued at US$210, representing a 25% premium –
it’s not all good news.

PIF acquiring EA raises concerns about possible “game-washing”, and less than
ideal future business practices."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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