Just about a month ago, a consortium surrounding Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed a historic $55 billion acquisition of US publisher Electronic Arts (EA) and delisted the company from the stock exchange. Now, the next structural change is imminent: as the media reports citing Bloomberg, the management of the sovereign wealth fund is considering merging EA with the internal industry consortium Savvy Games Group. The goal of the project is to merge EA’s strong PC and console brands, including EA Sports FC, The Sims and Battlefield, directly with the mobile gaming capabilities of Savvy and its subsidiaries. A final decision on the merger is still pending.
The planned merger would bring EA under the umbrella of Savvy Games, which already includes heavyweights such as esports company ESL FACEIT Group and mobile publisher Scopely (Monopoly GO!). Market observers believe that this strategic direction is mainly to make up for EA’s weaknesses in the field of mobile games and build a comprehensive game empire.
However, before this step can be finalized, Savvy’s reported plans to acquire Chinese Mobile Legends developer Moonton for $6 billion are still in the works. Specific integration plans will be implemented only after the acquisition is completed.
The plan has drawn continued concern from labor and industry watchers. Following an acquisition and associated private structural transformation, savings and restructuring can be used to offset the large debt financing in the transaction. In addition, many employees fear that deeper integration into the Saudi Arabian state-owned company will lead to staff cuts in marketing and management and may limit creative freedom of movement for future game projects.
If the merger passes official requirements and competition law checks, it will create one of the world’s highest-selling and most influential gaming companies.