- Directors of EA’s lifestyle pillar called staff concerned about the Saudi Arabia takeover “little babies.”
- Sources inside the company believe that many projects will be canned if they don’t appease the new owners.
- However, EA has maintained that its creative culture won’t be affected at all.
Following approval from several agencies, EA has finally gone private as part of the $55 billion acquisition led by Saudi Arabia’s PIF. As part of the deal, the gaming giant has racked up a whopping $20 billion in debt, 10x more than fellow publishers like Ubisoft.
Unsurprisingly, the takeover has a fair share of naysayers, with many gamers raising concerns as EA is already considering mass layoffs in a bid to cut $700 million in operating costs. However, a new report suggests that the criticism doesn’t really matter to higher-ups.
Why it matters: Consider how many anti-consumer innovations EA comes up with already; the company’s creative culture will only get worse now that it has no shareholders to answer to.
As reported by Game Developer, multiple sources working at EA stated that the company’s directors called employees raising concerns over the Saudi Arabian takeover “little babies.” In a town hall meeting during the fall of 2025, staff asked questions about how the acquisition will affect work culture at EA.
In response, the directors of EA’s lifestyle pillar only offered vague and unassuring answers, leaving their microphones on and calling the employees little babies after the meeting ended. Another source told Game Developer that employees think any project that doesn’t align with Saudi Arabia’s vision will get canned.
Internally, EA has maintained that the gaming giant’s creative culture will not be impacted, staying as progressive as before. However, due to the vague and avoidant nature of the company’s leadership, many think projects will be overlooked from now on if they don’t appease the new owners.
Former EA employees have also shared these concerns, with an ex-manager saying that Mass Effect is under threat following the takeover. Considering how reports also suggest EA is considering selling developers like BioWare in addition to some IPs, it would be wrong to say that concerns of employees are invalid.
Do you think EA is going to change the nature of its projects to appease Saudi Arabia? Are you in support of the takeover? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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