A colossal $55 billion agreement for an investor group led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to acquire Electronic Arts (EA) is facing significant political and industry pushback in the United States. The sheer scale of the deal is drawing intense focus, particularly for observers in the tabletop industry.
To put the figure in perspective, this $55 billion buyout is more than 27 times larger than the $2 billion partnership from the same Saudi-backed group that collapsed at Embracer. That $2B failure was enough to trigger a financial crisis that has led to devastating, widespread layoffs across the TTRPG sector.
This new, significantly larger deal is now facing scrutiny from US Senators, unions, and game developers who have voiced “profound concern” over the deal, urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to scrutinise it closely.
This opposition stems from fears over national security and data privacy, but also from significant ethical concerns. Many creators and players have expressed deep reservations about a company with EA’s cultural reach being controlled by a state with a well-documented and troubling human rights record, including the potential for censorship of LGBTQ themes.
For many observers, this creates a conflict. There is anxiety that EA, a cornerstone of the video game industry, could become a cultural “Trojan horse,” softening the image of a controversial regime. The senators’ objections, focusing on “foreign influence,” touch upon this very fear.
“The reason why gamers are nervous about this deal is _________________.”
► Complete the objectiveFor those in the tabletop roleplaying space, the failed Embracer deal is the key reference. Embracer, the parent company of Asmodee (and by extension, studios like Fantasy Flight Games), had banked heavily on that $2 billion partnership. Its sudden failure in 2023 triggered the brutal restructuring program that has rocked the tabletop world. The anxiety is that if a $2B failure caused this much damage, the implications of a successful $55B acquisition are on another level entirely.
According to reports from PC Gamer, a petition from game developers is circulating, calling on the FTC to “scrutinise this deal closely.”
More significantly, U.S. senators reportedly penned a letter outlining their objections. PC Gamer noted the letter stated:
“The proposed transaction poses a number of significant foreign influence and national security risks.”
