Barely a month after a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund completed its staggering $55 billion takeover of Electronic Arts, a new report suggests the blockbuster dEal may have only been the opening move. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, the kingdom’s new owners are now weighing a plan to merge the publisher behind FIFA—sorry, EA Sports FC—with their existing gaming arm, Savvy Games Group, creating a single corporate titan that would house all of the wealth fund’s future video game ventures.
The Reported Uber-Megacorp Plan
Details remain thin, and nothing has been officially confirmed, but the thinking reportedly goes like this: rather than running EA and Savvy Games Group as separate entities under the Public Investment Fund (PIF) umbrella, the Saudi owners would fold them into one unified publishing powerhouse. The resulting company would act as the central vehicle for every gaming-related investment the sovereign wealth fund makes going forward.
If it happens, the merger would cap off one of the most dramatic ownership sagas in gaming history. The EA buyout already ranks among the largest acquisitions in entertainment history—dwarfing even Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal in headline value—and it fundamentally transformed one of the West’s most iconic publishers into a crown-owned asset overnight.
What Savvy Games Group Brings to the Table
For those unfamiliar, Savvy Games Group isn’t a small-time player being absorbed by EA. It’s the PIF’s dedicated gaming and esports company, and it has spent years quietly assembling an impressive portfolio:
- Scopely – the mobile gaming giant behind Monopoly Go! and Stumble Guys, acquired in a deal worth nearly $5 billion
- ESL FACEIT Group – a cornerstone of the global competitive gaming and esports infrastructure scene
- A massive war chest – the Saudi government has earmarked tens of billions of dollars specifically for gaming investments as part of its economic strategy
Merging that portfolio with EA’s stable of heavyweight franchises—Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Madden, and the EA Sports FC football juggernaut—would create a publisher with reach across console, PC, mobile, and esports simultaneously.
Why This Merger Makes Strategic Sense
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Playbook
The move fits neatly into the kingdom’s broader Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil dependence. Gaming has been identified as a priority sector, and consolidating holdings under one roof would give PIF a cleaner, more efficient structure for deploying capital into the industry—whether through studio acquisitions, publishing deals, or live-service investments.
What It Could Mean for Players
For gamers, the implications are a mixed bag. On one hand, consolidation at this scale often triggers restructuring anxiety, and EA’s workforce has already weathered significant turbulence in recent years. On the other hand, deep-pocketed ownership with a long-term strategic vision could mean renewed investment in dormant franchises and ambitious new projects—something EA fans have been clamoring for, particularly around series like Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
There’s also the question of regulatory scrutiny. A combined EA-Savvy entity controlling this much of the publishing landscape would almost certainly draw antitrust attention in multiple territories, meaning any merger would likely face a lengthy approval process before becoming reality.
The Bottom Line
For now, this remains a report rather than a done deal, but the direction of travel is unmistakable. Saudi Arabia isn’t interested in being a passive investor in gaming—it wants to own a foundational pillar of the industry’s future. Whether that’s good news for players, developers, or the medium itself remains one of the defining questions of this console generation.
In the meantime, if you’re looking to jump into EA’s current lineup—from Battlefield to EA Sports FC—you can grab EA game keys and wallet gift cards at discounted prices right now at TURGAME.com, your go-to store for digital game codes and gift cards worldwide.
Source: Rock Paper Shotgun