Congressional Democrats in the Labor Caucus sent a letter on Friday asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to review the acquisition of U.S.-based game publisher and developer Electronic Arts by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF); Miami-based Affinity Partners; and Silver Lake.
The deal, which was announced in September 2025, is valued at around $55 billion USD and would give the Saudi Arabian government control of the company when the transaction is completed. EA is best known for such games as EA FC, Madden NFL, Apex Legends, Battlefield, The Sims, and many other storied and classic game franchises.
In a letter to the FTC signed by Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada), Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin), Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey) and 40 other House Democrats, lawmakers urged FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, to review the proposed acquisition of EA by the PIF.
The letter was also strongly backed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents a number of workers in the United States that work in the video games industry.
“We are writing to express serious concerns regarding the proposed acquisition of Electronic Arts (EA) by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, and private equity firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners,” wrote the lawmakers. “We are committed to preserving fair, competitive labor markets and safeguarding American jobs, and given the impact of this acquisition on workers, labor market concentration, and the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. video game industry, we urge you to thoroughly review this transaction.”
Major concerns expressed by lawmakers included the impact of the deal on EA’s “wage-setting power, the likelihood of post-transaction layoffs, the degree of labor-market concentration in relevant geographic and occupational markets, and the role of cross-ownership in shaping labor outcomes.”
While lawmakers and the CWA might be seeking a review of the proposed acquisition (which has already been approved by shareholders and EA leadership but not various government regulators around the world), there are a number of factors that make the prospect unlikely.
For one, the deal involves Miami-based Affinity Partners, which was launched in 2021 by Jared Kushner, a former senior advisor to President Donald Trump in his first-term and his son-in-law; and U.S.-based investment firm Silver Lake Both have substantial investments from the PIF.
More importantly, it is highly unlikely that the FTC will go against President Trump, who has a strong relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; in May the Saudi Arabian government agreed to spend $142 billion to buy weapons from the U.S. government and make investments in weapons and technology totaling $600 billion.