- According to reports, EA may be looking to go private in a record-breaking $50 billion buyout.
- The deal sees investors like PIF, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and Silver Lake coming together.
- The EA buyout deal is expected to be announced as soon as next week.
“It’s in the game!” – The catchphrase instantly reminds gamers of the renowned video game maker Electronic Arts, popularly known as EA. Well, as per reports, we’ve learned that EA may be looking to go private in a record-breaking deal, thus getting out of the game.
EA Might Go Private in a Record-Breaking Deal
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, EA is in “advanced talks” to go private at a mind-boggling $50 billion valuation. It is stated that a group of investors is coming together for this buyout. This includes private equity firm Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s PIF (Public Investment Fund), and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
The biggest thing to note in the report is that EA could announce its move to go private “as soon as next week.” And it looks like EA is getting a good price. The publisher currently has a $43 billion valuation, and is reportedly being acquired for $50 billion, making it “potentially the largest leveraged buyout of all time,” as per WSJ and Bloomberg.
This sounds like a huge deal, especially if you consider that one of EA’s biggest releases of 2025, Battlefield 6, will be coming out a week after the announcement. And EA just released EA FC 26 earlier this week to much fanfare.
As gamers, we primarily concern ourselves with the publisher’s game releases, including renowned titles such as FIFA, Battlefield, and The Sims. But EA has been a listed company for more than three decades, trading on NASDAQ. Ever since the news of the buyout broke, EA’s stock has been trading
~15% higher, inching closer to $200.
We all have fond memories of EA video games, since it basically pioneered sports games, like FIFA, Madden, and more. It’s also known for titles for the Mass Effect franchise, one of my all-time best and favorite games. But EA has not been the best in the business if we go by clean records.
Yes, they have been making good money (read thank you, microtransactions) over the years, but the amount of mess-ups overall is quite astonishing, especially when the company became entangled in a big licensing war with FIFA. No, not their own game; the association behind governing football.
Since then, their football game has been going by the name EA Sports FC. Quite ironic, isn’t it? But that’s not all. In the past few years, EA ended up burning their dish while trying to cook something good, shutting down multiple development studios, canceling plans for fan-favorite games such as Titanfall, or even pushing Respawn Entertainment for a new title that is not familiar to their taste.
Considering this turbulent history, going private might help them avoid any government or union interference. But for now, the next Battlefield I play will still be from EA (cue sad music). May this buyout give EA the right direction and a slight sales boost over Call of Duty.
