If you play EA Sports FC, Apex Legends, or The Sims, the company behind your game is about to change hands in the biggest gaming buyout ever recorded — and one of the last major regulatory checkpoints just cleared.
Europe Waves Through the Biggest Gaming Deal in History
On 23 July, the European Commission cleared the acquisition of Electronic Arts by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). At USD $55 billion, this is the largest leveraged buyout in history — dwarfing previous gaming M&A deals by a substantial margin.
PIF will hold 93.4% of EA once the transaction closes. Private equity firm Silver Lake takes 5.5%, and Affinity Partners holds the remaining 1.1%. EA shareholders already voted the deal through in December 2025 at $210 per share in cash — a 25% premium to the pre-announcement trading price.
The EU competition watchdog’s conclusion was clear: “The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given its limited impact on competition in the markets where the companies are active.” Europe sees no monopoly risk in PIF owning EA.
Two Checkpoints Remain Before the Deal Closes
EU antitrust approval is the biggest box ticked, but two items are still in progress. The European Commission is also running a separate Foreign Subsidies Regulation review — the mechanism Brussels uses to scrutinise deals involving state-backed acquirers like PIF — and a decision is expected by 30 July. On the US side, a CFIUS national-security review is still required; several US lawmakers previously called for scrutiny of a foreign sovereign wealth fund purchasing a major American entertainment company.
If both clear, the deal is expected to close in Q1 2027. EA would then delist from Nasdaq and operate as a private company. Andrew Wilson remains CEO, and EA stays headquartered in Redwood City, California. Wilson described the combination as a platform to “deliver extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans,” while PIF Deputy Governor Turqi Alnowaiser said PIF is “uniquely positioned in the global gaming and esports sectors.”
FC 27, Apex Legends, The Sims — What Could Change for Singapore Players
EA’s catalogue is among the most-played in Singapore. EA Sports FC is the dominant football simulation on local servers, and FC 27 launches 25 September with Mbappé as cover star. Apex Legends, The Sims 4, Dragon Age, Battlefield, and Need for Speed are all under EA’s umbrella, and none of that changes on day one after closing.
The concern that follows any deal of this scale is financial: EA is taking on roughly USD $20 billion in debt to help fund the buyout. Private companies carrying that kind of leverage have historically turned to aggressive monetisation to service the load — and EA already runs some of the industry’s most lucrative live-service models, with Football Ultimate Team (FUT) generating enormous revenue each year. Whether PIF’s long-horizon sovereign fund model enables more patient game development — freed from the quarterly earnings pressure of being a public company — or whether the debt load pushes harder monetisation, is the open question every EA player will be watching.
Saudi Arabia’s Expanding Stake in Global Gaming
PIF has been building a gaming portfolio for several years through its Savvy Games Group arm, which previously acquired stakes in Capcom, Nexon, Nintendo, and others. EA would become by far the largest direct holding — not a minority stake but an operating acquisition of one of the world’s top five game publishers.
For Singapore’s gaming market, one of Southeast Asia’s most active, the practical near-term impact is minimal. Servers run as usual; account details, purchases, and subscriptions carry over. But the ownership behind every EA login screen shifts, and the timeline to watch is 2027 onward: how the new private structure reshapes EA’s pricing, release cadence, and live-service strategy will become clearer once the deal formally closes. Singapore gamers — especially the FC community — will have a front-row seat.
Keep tabs on gaming industry news here as the remaining approvals come in.
