EA could be set for ‘mass layoffs’ as it aims to cut costs following Saudi acquisition

Electronic Arts could be set for mass layoffs following its acquisition by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF).

The company confirmed on Tuesday that the deal had been completed, meaning it is now fully owned by an investor consortium comprised of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, with the PIF owning 93.4% of this (as per a filing made last year).

The deal is the largest ever leveraged buyout in history – a leveraged buyout is an acquisition where most of the cost is covered by borrowed money, with the target company’s own assets and future cash flow used as security to pay back the loan.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier posted on Bluesky that this amounts to a total debt for EA of around $18 billion, with the company having to pay around $1.8 billion per year in interest alone.

Schreier reports that EA’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is around $1.5 billion, meaning it can just about cover the interest payments without reducing the debt.

As such, the company has reportedly told debt investors that it’s looking to make cuts to reduce its annual expenses.

“EA’s annual EBITDA is around $1.5 billion, which should be enough to service the interest payments,” Schreier wrote on Bluesky. “But the publisher has told debt investors that it will cut $700 million in annual costs including $170 million in ‘organizational efficiencies’, per Bloomberg. In other words – mass layoffs.”

EA has already made a number of layoffs in recent years. Last year Reuters reported that the company laid off 300-400 staff, including around 100 at Respawn Entertainment, and cancelled a Titanfall game that was in development.

It also confirmed in March 2026 that had laid off an undisclosed number of employees from the studios that worked on Battlefield 6, including Criterion, Dice, Motive and Ripple Effect.

The PIF – or Public Investment Fund – is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and is reportedly central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s goal of making the Saudi economy less reliant on proceeds from oil. The fund already owns billions of stock in other video game companies, such as Take-Two, and owns other companies such as SNK.

Further reading

Electronic Arts completes its acquisition deal, is now officially owned by Saudi Arabia’s PIF

A consortium led by the Saudi investment fund now owns the EA Sports and The Sims company

In recent years Saudi Arabia officials have said its investments in the games industry will help to modernize the kingdom, but they have come with negative fallout due to the country’s highly criticised human rights abuses.

Notably, the crown prince has been accused by US Intelligence of ordering the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The country has also has historically cracked down on female activists and LBGTQI+ rights, with legal repercussions for LGBTQI+ individuals including imprisonment, fines or the death penalty according to Amnesty International.