A consortium of investors led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF and involving Jared Kushner has completed the acquisition of publisher Electronic Arts for $55 billion. But beyond the financial numbers, the deal impressed employees. just like the current one Game Developer Report Numerous employees across North America, speaking under the promise of anonymity, described a wave of suspicion, resentment and conflicts of conscience, according to reports. While management tried to calm things down, employees worried about the direct impact on creative freedom and the coming wave of layoffs.
At the heart of the criticism is concern over the impact that the new owners might assert their own political and social agenda. Many employees worried about the self-censorship that would creep in while developing new games. Saudi officials are not expected to ban the competition outright; instead, there are concerns that sensitive projects – especially those with LGBTQ+ themes or socially critical content – will no longer receive approval from studio management as a precautionary measure. Some employees have spoken out about feeling uncomfortable working for a boss whose values contrast with an inclusive company culture.
This sentiment is further fueled by the apparent gap between management and employees. Although executives tried to portray the deal positively in internal meetings and pointed to the stock dividend, many employees found the comments inappropriate and out of touch with reality. An incident of forgetting to mute a microphone during a meeting led to derogatory remarks about the employee involved and further contributed to a breakdown in trust.
Additionally, a large portion of the workforce expects layoffs to occur soon. Since EA no longer has the same disclosure obligations to public shareholders as it goes public, employees worry about less transparency around future studio closures and cost-cutting measures. Whether previously valued brands outside of major sports series and multiplayer flagship games will continue to operate under new management remains uncertain.
