Roughly a month after Electronic Arts was taken private by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), along with Silver Lake Partners and Affinity Partners (owned by Jared Kushner), a Bloomberg report says the PIF is now considering merging EA with Savvy Games Group, another gaming company it controls. According to PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, and Kotaku, no final decisions have been made, and any merger would likely be held off until Savvy completes its $6 billion acquisition of Chinese mobile studio Moonton, a deal announced in March.
Savvy Games Group, established by the PIF in 2021, already owns esports organization ESL FACEIT Group and Scopely, maker of Pokémon Go and Monopoly Go!, according to GamesRadar+ and PC Gamer. Kotaku reports that Bloomberg's sourcing indicates PIF executives are considering the move to 'ensure better coordination between its assets,' rather than running EA and Savvy as separate subsidiaries. On the PIF's own website, Savvy states its goal is 'achieving leadership status in the games industry by 2030,' per GamesRadar+.
EA and PIF representatives declined to comment on the report, according to all three outlets. PC Gamer notes that Savvy's portfolio, combined with EA's franchises, would create a global gaming powerhouse effectively under the control of PIF chairman Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.
All three sources say the proposed merger would likely face regulatory scrutiny, with Kotaku and GamesRadar+ comparing potential antitrust concerns to those raised during Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. PC Gamer notes that bin Salman's relationship with President Trump, and Kushner's role in facilitating the original EA deal, may help the PIF navigate regulatory hurdles more easily than Microsoft did.
EA employees are reportedly already bracing for layoffs tied to the $18 billion in debt EA took on as part of the PIF acquisition, according to PC Gamer. Kotaku adds that EA's developers and rank-and-file workers have been kept in the dark about what a Savvy merger would mean, with many anticipating significant job cuts. GamesRadar+ notes that EA leadership has said its 'creative freedom and player-first values will remain intact,' even as fears persist that a merger with Savvy would deepen those concerns.
If the merger proceeds, GamesRadar+ notes it would bring EA's sports franchises together with Scopely's mobile hits like Pokémon Go and Monopoly Go! under a single company. PC Gamer and Kotaku both frame the potential deal as part of a broader Saudi strategy to consolidate its gaming investments into one vehicle for acquisitions and development, though all sources stress that the outcome remains uncertain pending regulatory review and the completion of the Moonton deal.