Featured Image Credit: Electronic Arts
Topics: Jedi Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, Star Wars, EA
Topics: Jedi Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, Star Wars, EA
The news of the Electronic Arts acquisition is the talk of the video game industry and for good reason as the $55bn takeover could see some of our favourite games have an uncertain future.
Over the weekend, it was revealed that a bunch of investors including the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and a firm managed by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had acquired Electronic Arts.
With the acquisition not expected to go into full effect until Q1 FY27, there may be quite some time until we see its true repercussions but there is no denying that IPs once owned by EA, including Mass Effect, The Sims, and Battlefield, could face some drastic changes going forward.
Since the news of the acquisition was revealed, fans of Mass Effect have been worrying about what Saudi Arabia’s involvement could mean for the once-diverse RPG franchise.
Advert
On the other hand, Grand Theft Auto VI is still on track for an exciting future after Take-Two Interactive now successfully becomes the largest independent video game publisher.
In the meantime, there is one other beloved franchise which may feel the repercussions of the acquisition and that is the upcoming Star Wars games.
Up until now, both 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel, 2023’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor have been published by Electronic Arts.
However, we know that that is soon about to change and this could have major consequences for the upcoming third instalment.
“EA has been acquired by a Saudi Arabian consortium (along with Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners & Silver Lake) for $55 billion,” a social media post on the Star Wars Holocron account reads.
It is currently unclear how, if at all, this acquisition will affect the release of upcoming Star Wars games, including the sequel to Jedi: Survivor.”
Although according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, we may already have an idea what the future holds for franchises such as this.
In a post shared over on Bluesky, Schreier said the following:
“A lot of people are (understandably) focused on the Saudi Arabia and Kushner part of this, but the far bigger immediate impact will come from the new private EA being on the hook for $20 billion in debt.
This could mean mass layoffs, more aggressive monetisation, and other big cost-cutting measures”.
Alongside the acquisition, the investors will also be taking on EA’s debt so there is no surprise that they will want to remedy this as soon as possible.
As a result, a report by the Financial Times reveals that EA’s new owners will rely on AI to "reduce production costs and increase EA's profits in the coming years.”
To sum up, it is not looking good.
Only time will tell how much of an impact this acquisition will have on some of our favourite video game franchises so all we can do is remain somewhat hopeful.