EA's $55 billion leveraged buyout by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners has officially completed after receiving European Commission approval, taking the publisher private. Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani, whose studio makes Helldivers 2, has warned that the deal risks being "a real waste" of EA's diverse catalogue if the new ownership pushes the company towards becoming purely a "sequel-and-mega-franchise machine" rather than preserving the range of projects, from blockbusters to smaller titles, that have defined its output.

The takeover has loaded EA with roughly $18 billion in debt, and while its annual Ebitda of around $1.5 billion should cover interest payments, the publisher has reportedly told debt investors it plans to cut $700 million in annual costs, including $170 million in "organisational efficiencies" — widely interpreted as further layoffs. This follows existing concerns, such as job cuts at BioWare after Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and casts doubt on whether EA will revive shelved series like Burnout or invest beyond its biggest cash cows such as EA FC, Battlefield, Madden and The Sims.