What the acquisition of EA might mean for its future

Electronic arts have just announced that it will be obtained and taken special In a huge deal worth $ 55 billion Under the leadership of a group of investors consisting of the Public Investment Fund in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The deal, which is expected to be closed in Q1 in the 2027 fiscal year of EA (which is held from April 1 to June 30, 2026), is not just a large amount of money that includes one of the largest games publishers; It can have tremendous repercussions for the company, the types of games you invest in, and the people they make.

The same deal, which is a custom purchase, consists of about $ 36 billion in cash from Silver Lake, Affinity Partners, and PIF (which exceeds 9.9 per cent shares that already have it in EA), while JPMorgan Chase Bank will save $ 20 billion of debt financing (“$ 18 billion is expected to be funded at Funding. ” According to EA’s journalist statement). This means that the newlyweds will have to do a lot to justify the huge price.

“Conservatives to benefit from debt, which usually means more layoffs, smaller budgets, and less risks,” Mona Ibrahim, former main lawyer in EPIC games, He said on LinkedIn. “As for the manufacturer that flourishes on the invention, this is a problem.”

There is no comparison directly with this position. like Circle Curtalst Mat Outst Matial Ciralla Notes“$ 20 billion in debt financing is a large number of shockingly to serve it, with a move from a public organization to a private organization and all the effects of the people who work in it. It is clear that we have not seen anything like this on this range in the industry before.” But we can look at what happened to some large Microsoft Games as a road map of what might happen with EA.

A few months after the completion of the $ 68.7 billion snowstorm deal in October 2023Microsoft recorded 1900 employees Via Activision Blizzard and XboxBlizzard president left the company. and Survival game in development It was canceled-a noticeable decision in view of the previous Blizzard history in creating permanent and long-term privileges such as Diablo and Naked. Microsoft also has close Arkin Austin and Tango Gameworks, which I picked up as part of Zenimax MediaAs part of a large layoff at the company’s level earlier this year, he cut employees in Zenimax and Candy Crush King’s maker (which is under the umbrella of Activision Blizzard).

It also seems that EA will continue to focus mainly on the most profitable electrode privilege, a trend that the publisher was directed towards some time. You just need to look at it Latest profit slices To see it. EA’s “basic business” slide features six games with “huge online communities”: Apix mythsand battlefieldand Sports College Football EAand EA SPORTS FCand MineralAnd Sims. The slide also has a small male to play EA Free skating Revival, which was just launched In early arrival It is another attempt by EA to make a multi -player game big.

Basically, the EA’s main road map is characterized by many sports and archers in Apix myths and Battlefield 6And additions to Sims 4 (and new Sims In development). There are also a few smaller games that are thrown here and there (like some Star Wars games and Plants versus zombies Remaster) A handful of free games to play. For the largest part, the size of these titles continues to increase. Battlefield 6 It is developed by Four of the most prominent EA studios In order to compete with Call of Dutywhile the next Sims It will be an ambitious conversion to the privilege. In short: EA puts more money in fewer games. The acquisition is more likely to speed up this process.

This puts the younger EA games and the privileges with a weak performance in a difficult position. After bioware Dragon era: The Veilguard I did bad enough that EA was saying that In a pre -profit press statement Earlier this year, it wasn’t long ago The beloved studio was hit with the demobilization of the workers. The EA Origindals brand had some visits Fantasy and It takes twoBut other games, such as The immortal from Avium and Kenzira Tales: ZaoIt was not almost successful, so the new EA may choose not to work on more projects in the future. EA has already shown itself as harsh even with games that seem to have a lot of capabilities: it’s Eliminate Black tiger The game earlier this year The studio was closed behind, although it is linked to the distinction of a movie that got more than two billion dollars.

Once the deal is closed, there may be other costs to reduce costs, including increased use of artificial intelligence. “Investors are betting that artificial intelligence cost discounts will greatly enhance EA’s profits in the coming years,” according to the coming years, according to the EA’s profits in the coming years. the Financial timesQuoted from the “persons participating in the deal”. The CEO of EA, Andrew Wilson, who will continue to lead the company after the closure of the deal, said that artificial intelligence is in. “Very essential“Of the EA’s works. Given the history of some of the previously large summons, EA may still have a turbulent future in the future, even if he made major changes. Toys R US and HERTZ has come both to withdraw after the main acquisitions years ago, years ago, As noted Reuters.

We do not know exactly what can be expected from EA to go forward due to the uniqueness of this situation. Wilson Maybe I promised the employees today “The future that we build together is brighter than ever,” but history indicates that things may not be very sunny.