EA workers fight back: union slams $55 billion Saudi-backed buyout

Electronic Arts (EA) was recently bought out by a consortium that is made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners investment firm for $55 billion. Now, a union representing EA workers has publicly opposed the sale and privatization of the company, saying employees weren't properly represented during the sale negotiations.

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The statement names the United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433, along with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), as now very concerned that the privatization of EA will lead to company layoffs. The union states EA is "not a struggling company," with "annual revenues reaching $7.5 billion and $1 billion in profit each year".

The statement continues, and says EA's success has been "driven by the tens of thousands of EA workers," which made "EA worth buying in the first place."

• Read more: CWA Labor Union, EA workers issue formal opposition to $55 billion Saudi buyout

The union goes on to say that despite EA being grown into the company it is today by its employees, they weren't represented at all during the negotiation phase of the deal. Furthermore, the group states that if layoffs occur or if studios close, it won't be out of necessity, and would instead be a decision to "pad investors' pockets".

Additionally, the group has called upon the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the deal and scrutinize it in an effort to prevent any potential jobs from being lost in the future, while also ensuring creative freedom is maintained.

The recently proposed acquisition of Electronic Arts (EA) by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and private equity firms, including Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, will further concentrate power and wealth into the hands of a few gatekeepers while doing nothing to address the concerns of players and workers.

EA is not a struggling company. With annual revenues reaching $7.5 billion and $1 billion in profit each year, EA is one of the largest video game developers and publishers in the world. EA's success has been entirely driven by tens of thousands of EA workers whose creativity, skill, and innovation made EA worth buying in the first place. Yet we, the very people who will be jeopardized as a result of this deal, were not represented at all when this buyout was negotiated or discussed.

We are particularly worried about the future of our studios that are arbitrarily deemed 'less profitable' but whose contributions to the video game industry define EA's reputation. Since 2022, an estimated 40,000 video game workers have already lost their jobs due to mass layoffs at AAA and indie studios alike. As reported in Game Developer, this deal will result in EA having to finance nearly $20 billion in debt-who will be spared, which corners will executives cut, and what studios will be sacrificed in order for that to happen?

If jobs are lost or studios are closed due to this deal, that would be a choice, not a necessity, made to pad investors' pockets-not to strengthen the company.

Every time private equity or billionaire investors take a studio private, workers lose visibility, transparency, and power. Decisions that shape our jobs, our art, and our futures are made behind closed doors by executives who have never written a line of code, built worlds, or supported live services. We are calling on regulators and elected officials to scrutinize this deal and ensure that any path forward protects jobs, preserves creative freedom, and keeps decision-making accountable to the workers who make EA successful.

However, we also recognize that regulators and elected officials alone will not save the video game industry. Only we can truly do that. Organizing is the only thing that guarantees workers a real voice when ownership changes hands, and it's the only way to ensure that the people who make video games have a say in how they're run.

The value of video games is in their workers. As a unified voice, we, the members of the industry-wide video game workers' union UVW-CWA, are standing together and refusing to let corporate greed decide the future of our industry.