EA workers and CWA fight back against $55b private acquisition funded by Saudi Arabia

Union workers at EA, represented by the United Videogame Workers union and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), are fighting back against EA’s $55 billion acquisition. The CWA published a formal petition criticizing the acquisition alongside the potentially negative influence of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which helped fund the private buyout. 

According to the petition, the proposed acquisition will “further concentrate power and wealth into the hands of a few gatekeepers while doing nothing to address the concerns of players and workers.” 

The petition goes on to state that EA is not struggling, referencing its annual revenue reaching $7.5 billion and $1 billion in profit thereafter. CWA claims that EA’s success has been driven entirely by the tens of thousands of EA workers whose skills made EA worth buying in the first place. Despite that, the very people who will be jeopardized as a result of this deal were not represented at all when this buyout was negotiated or discussed. 

The CWA draws attention to a stat reported in Game Developer, which states that EA will have to finance nearly $20 b in debt, warranting concern regarding which corners the executives will cut, and what studios will be sacrificed. 

The United Videogame Workers CWA reiterated the point: 

“If jobs are lost or studios are closed due to this deal, that would be a choice, not a necessity, made to pad the investors’ pockets–not to strengthen the company.”

EA markets the acquisition as a push forward and as a moment of powerful recognition of EA’s remarkable work. Jared Kushner, CEO of Affinity Partners and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, commented that he couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead in regards to the private multi billion dollar acquisition.