EU approves $55bn EA buyout by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners

The European Commission has approved the $55bn acquisition of Electronic Arts by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. Eurogamer reports that the Commission cleared the deal under its normal merger review procedure after finding that the buyout would not raise competition concerns.

The player-facing number is the size of the transaction: $55bn. If completed, the deal would become the largest leveraged buyout in history, with EA moving from public-market ownership into a private structure backed by sovereign wealth and private equity capital. EA shareholders approved the acquisition in December 2025, leaving regulatory approvals and closing steps as the remaining barriers.

The approval does not remove the political and labor controversy around the deal. Eurogamer notes criticism of Saudi Arabia's large gaming investments as sportswashing, tied to the country's human-rights record and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The transaction also includes Affinity Partners, led by Jared Kushner, and has drawn opposition from game-industry labor groups.

The r/pcgaming post centered on the EU approval and the “largest private leveraged buyout” framing rather than a product update. Full comment access was limited through RSS in this run, but the concrete community relevance is clear: EA's catalog, live-service strategy, and future studio decisions would sit under a new ownership structure if the acquisition closes. Source: Eurogamer.