EA’s $55 Billion Acquisition Could Redefine the Future of BioWare, The Sims, and Battlefield

Electronic Arts, one of the largest publishers in the global gaming industry, is on the verge of a historic ownership shift. On September 29, 2025, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), along with equity firm Silver Lake and investment group Affinity Partners—led by Jared Kushner—announced their joint plan to acquire EA for $55 billion. Once finalized, the deal would take EA private and place one of the most influential Western publishers under ownership with close political and financial ties to the U.S. government.

The announcement has raised widespread uncertainty across the industry. Developers, players, and analysts are all debating how this acquisition will affect EA’s studios, franchises, and internal structure. While some believe the deal could free EA from shareholder pressures and allow for more creative freedom, others warn that the scale of debt involved and the motives of the new ownership could lead to sweeping cost reductions and significant sell-offs.

Rhys Elliot, head of market analytics at Alinea, called attention to the financial risk behind the deal.

Elliot said, referring to the B-rated debt that EA itself will eventually have to manage:

“The $20 billion in debt looming over this transaction flies in the face of this advantage.”

A “B” credit rating indicates what analysts call “junk debt”—a high-risk loan that assumes potential difficulty in repayment. Despite EA’s healthy cash flow, estimated at $2 billion annually, the company now faces enormous financial obligations while navigating one of the largest acquisitions in gaming history.

According to data from Newzoo, EA ranks as the top publisher across 37 markets, with nearly a third of active players engaging with at least one EA title regularly. Yet, experts like Circana’s Mat Piscatella describe the deal as “unsettling,” highlighting that even a market leader could face creative and operational limitations under such a leveraged buyout.

David Cole, president of DFC Intelligence, believes that EA’s short-term focus will shift away from creative experimentation.

“Leveraged buyouts are historically followed by cutbacks and the sell of non-essential assets in the short-term,” Cole explained. “Long term, this can allow a company like EA to focus on more creative risky ventures, as they are not beholden to public shareholders. But short term, we expect them to focus more on core money generators and look to get top dollar for secondary IP.”

That likely means EA Sports remains secure. Franchises such as Madden NFL and EA FC (formerly FIFA) will continue to be central to EA’s identity and profitability. Cole expects the company to expand these lines further, though Freedom Capital Markets noted that EA’s reliance on annualized sports releases and microtransactions could become a liability rather than a safety net.

EA’s 2025 financial results revealed that its dependence on recurring monetization has become increasingly volatile. When live-service performance dips, profit margins shrink dramatically. A recent example came from Apex Legends, which saw a drop in both player numbers and predicted revenue after attempts to intensify in-game purchases. Despite some rollbacks, the damage lingered. Between August 2024 and August 2025, Apex Legends ranked only eighth in EA’s U.S. revenue chart.

Still, Cole thinks the game’s high-earning potential makes it a key testing ground for EA’s future under new ownership. Live-service titles remain among the few sectors capable of generating consistent, scalable income. Whether that stability will be enough to offset the company’s debt remains unclear.

DICE’s future, meanwhile, is tightly tied to the success of Battlefield 6. Freedom Capital Markets describes the game as EA’s experiment in diversifying beyond sports and live-service models. Cole believes EA will evaluate its future role in first-person shooters based on how Battlefield 6 performs against Call of Duty. If the results disappoint, DICE could be next in line for divestment.

Cole predicts EA will adopt a “selective sell-off” approach, targeting studios that lack high-performing franchises or consistent revenue. Smaller development teams like Criterion could be sold independently, while support studios such as Motive may be packaged with partners like DICE. While such actions might sound more pragmatic than outright closures, they would still likely involve layoffs and budget cuts.

Elliot anticipates that workforce reductions will disproportionately affect non-sports divisions and studios not involved in live-service production. He also raised concerns about “brain drain,” as developers could leave in protest against EA’s new owners’ links to human rights controversies and anti-LBGTQ+ policies connected to U.S. political circles.

These ties have particularly alarmed The Sims community, where inclusivity has been a defining element. Cole believes Maxis’ smaller brands, such as SimCity and Spore, may be sold off, but The Sims itself will remain untouched unless a major offer emerges. The franchise remains one of EA’s most lucrative properties, ranking fourth in company-wide profitability from 2024 to 2025, with more than 70 million active players.

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During a 2022 GDC presentation, former Maxis producer Phillip Ring reported that 43 percent of The Sims 4 players identified as non-heterosexual, and 17 percent identified as transgender or gender-fluid. These numbers underline why inclusivity is both a moral and financial consideration. Despite CEO Andrew Wilson’s assurances that EA’s values “will not change,” analysts like Elliot caution that diversity and representation initiatives could quietly lose priority.

BioWare’s position appears even more precarious. Following the rocky launch of Dragon Age: The Veilguard—which underperformed by roughly 50 percent of EA’s internal player targets—many analysts expect BioWare to be sold. The studio’s history of long development cycles, internal restructuring, and LGBTQ+ representation makes it a likely candidate for divestment under the new ownership model.

Cole described BioWare as a “prime candidate for sale,” whether as an entire studio or through the division of its intellectual properties. Mass Effect and Dragon Age could potentially go to separate buyers if EA decides to liquidate assets individually.

The acquisition, expected to finalize in the first quarter of EA’s 2027 fiscal year (beginning April 1, 2026), will almost certainly reshape EA’s priorities in the years ahead. Elliot predicts layoffs and restructurings could extend well into 2028 as the company stabilizes under new ownership.