Report: The Saudi PIF is thinking of merging EA with Savvy

Bloomberg is reporting that, shortly after the sale of EA to Public Investment Fund of Saudia Arabia,  and U.S investment groups Silverlake and Affinity Partners, the Saudis are considering merging EA with another company they own, Savvy Games.

If the name Savvy Games doesn’t ring a bell, they are an umbrella company that owns the likes of Niantic (Pokémon GO and Pikmin Bloom), Scopely (Monopoly GO! and Pokémon GO), and are currently buying Chinese mobile game company Moonton.

When the sale of EA was first suggested, the company told employees that they will “maintain creative control and our track record of creative freedom and player-first values will remain intact.”

“We will continue to be guided by our cultural values of creativity, pioneering, passion, determination, learning, and teamwork,” they added, “The Consortium is supportive of and committed to investing in our exceptional employees and our strong culture.”

If it went ahead, the merger would certainly result in job losses and would place control of EA more directly with Saudi Arabia.

Just nine days ago, the CEO of Savvy Games, Brian Ward, stepped down, saying, “As Savvy embarks on its next period of transformational growth, this is the right time for new leadership for that evolution”. He was replaced by Turqi Alnowaiser, deputy governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as interim CEO.

The PIF and other Saudi investment funds have been prolific in spreading the country’s wealth into various other industries, both to diversify the country’s income to be more than just about selling oil, but also with the side effect of ‘washing’ this investment and the country’s reputation through other businesses. ‘Sportswashing’ is the more commonly known term, but the PIF has also taken stakes in many gaming companies around the world. They also have stakes in Riot Games, Nintendo, Take Two, Capcom, Embracer, Nexon, and Koei Tecmo. Prior to deciding to buy EA outright, the PIF already held a 10% stake in the company.

Source: Bloomberg

Tags: EA, Saudi Arabia