Saudi Arabia May Explore EA and Savvy Games Group Merger

It’s been just over a month since Electronic Arts, known for titles like Sims, Apex Legends, and Madden, was officially acquired by a private equity group that includes the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake Partners, and Affinity Partners, which is linked to Jared Kushner. Recently, a report has surfaced suggesting that the Saudi government is contemplating merging EA with Savvy Games Group, the PIF’s gaming division that owns companies like Scopely, the creators of Pokémon Go.

According to the report, PIF executives are looking to integrate the largest publisher in the gaming world into their expanding portfolio to enhance coordination among their assets. While no final decisions have been reached yet, any potential deal is likely to be postponed until Savvy completes its acquisition of the Chinese mobile gaming company Moontown for $6 billion.

If the Saudi wealth fund proceeds with this merger, it could streamline acquisitions and game development under a single entity, rather than having various subsidiaries operate separately. However, this potential merger may face legal challenges due to antitrust concerns, reminiscent of the scrutiny surrounding the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal.

Inside EA, reports indicate that developers and staff are largely uninformed about the implications of these developments, leading to widespread speculation about potential layoffs across the studios under the company’s umbrella.