When you think about video games, the mind immediately flies to Japan and the United States, but since yesterday you have to look at the Middle East. Electronic Arts (EA), the US manufacturer of video games of the caliber of Fifa, The Sims and Battlefield, changes passport and flies to Saudi Arabia.
The company has reached an agreement, to be completed within the first quarter of 2027, with the Saudi Pif sovereign fund, supported by Silver Lake and by Affinity Partner, the fund of Jared Kushner, none other than the son -in -law of Donald Trump. The operation, entirely cash, involves the transfer of more than 55 billion dollars, establishing a new record for the largest buyout in history and the greater acquisition of 2025.
The agreement is in line with the aim of the PIF to invest up to 70 billion this year in projects related to artificial intelligence to diversify its economy. In the practical, the investment is a bet on the fact that new technologies can significantly reduce the operating costs of EA, but also to speed up the production of video games.
The use of artificial intelligence in this opens interesting scenarios but also
controversial: on the one hand, artificial intelligence could accelerate content production and make development more efficient; on the other, the fear remains that the creativity and authenticity of the games can be affected.