Electronic Arts confirmed Monday that it is going private in a US$55-billion deal that will see the publisher of the EA Sports FC, Battlefield and The Sims franchises owned by a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, a private equity firm and an investment company founded by the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund, American firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners agreed to pay US$210 in cash per EA share, a 25 per cent premium over the closing price Thursday, before word of the deal began to emerge. EA will take on US$20 billion of debt as part of the deal.

Northern exposure: California-based EA has long relied on its Canadian studios. The company’s industry-leading soccer series EA Sports FC (previously known as EA Sports FIFA) has been developed in Vancouver since its inception over 30 years ago. Edmonton-based BioWare was a strategic US$860-million acquisition for EA in 2007, giving the publisher a needed presence in the RPG category with series like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The company also has EA Motive in Montreal working on an upcoming Iron Man game, and Glu Mobile teams in Toronto and Vancouver.

Despite their tenure, EA’s Canadian operations have not been immune to the struggles the wider industry has faced in recent years. Last year’s EA Sports FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of commercial expectations at launch, with the latter extending a string of disappointments for BioWare stretching back through 2019’s Anthem and 2017’s Mass Effect: Andromeda.

One-precedented: This would be the second-largest deal in the industry’s history, trailing only Microsoft’s US$68.7-billion acquisition of Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard in 2022. Even without assuming billions of debt in the process and despite consistently reporting record profits since, Microsoft has embarked on a series of mass layoffs (including at Activision Blizzard) and studio closures to its gaming business. If the deal closes as expected in the quarter ending June 30, 2026, it could be the largest leveraged buyout ever; The Wall Street Journal puts a US$32-billion private equity purchase of Texas utility TXU in 2007 as the current holder of that distinction.

Key to the kingdom: While EA would no doubt be the jewel in its gaming crown, Saudi Arabia has spent recent years aggressively building its presence in video games to diversify its economy beyond oil. Through its Private Investment Fund, it established the Savvy Games Group and acquired Monopoly Go publisher Scopely, as well as the gaming business of Pokémon Go creator Niantic. It has purchased stakes in gaming companies like Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive, Capcom, Nexon and Embracer Group.

One clear point of friction between EA and its new owner may come in their attitudes regarding LGBTQ+ relationships. In Saudi Arabia, same-sex acts are illegal and punishable by death. As for EA, the publisher has been a trailblazer of LGBTQ+ support in the blockbuster game industry, proudly touting its status as a “Best Place to Work” for LGBTQ+ equality by the Human Rights Campaign, and featuring same-sex romance and transgender characters in series like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and The Sims.