Electronic Arts, the $55 billion video game publisher behind FIFA, Madden, and Apex Legends, has agreed to be acquired and taken private in one of the largest technology deals announced this year. The transaction removes a thirty-two-year Nasdaq fixture and signals a continuation of private capital's appetite for recurring-revenue entertainment franchises at scale.
The deal values EA at roughly 8.5x trailing twelve-month revenue of $6.5 billion and 18x adjusted EBITDA. The acquiring party has not been publicly disclosed, though the structure and size point to either a sovereign wealth vehicle or a consortium anchored by a large buyout shop with co-investment capacity from North American family offices. EA shareholders will receive cash for their equity. The company's board has approved the transaction. Closing is expected in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory review in the United States, the European Union, and China.
This marks the second-largest gaming acquisition behind Microsoft's $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, which closed in October 2023 after twenty months of regulatory contest. EA's franchises generate $4.1 billion in annual live-services revenue—subscription passes, in-game purchases, ultimate team packs—making it one of the most predictable cash engines in interactive entertainment. The acquirer inherits 580 million registered players across mobile, console, and PC, along with perpetual licensing agreements with the NFL, UFC, and major European football leagues. FIFA branding was lost in 2023, replaced by EA Sports FC, but the rebrand cost the company nothing material in user retention or monetization velocity.
The take-private removes quarterly earnings pressure at a time when EA has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence for dynamic gameplay, procedural content generation, and real-time translation of voice chat across twenty-three languages. The company spent $1.9 billion on R&D in fiscal 2024, up 14% year-over-year, and has been hiring machine learning engineers at a pace that outstripped its ability to communicate progress to public-market analysts. Private ownership allows the leadership team to extend development cycles, experiment with pricing models, and potentially pursue acquisitions of smaller studios without the scrutiny that comes with maintaining a $38 billion market capitalization under activist investor watch.
Allocators should track three events over the next six months. First, whether EA's executive team remains intact post-close or if the acquirer installs its own operating partners—an indicator of strategic versus financial intent. Second, the regulatory review timeline in China, where EA derives $820 million in annual revenue and where approval has become less predictable since 2022. Third, movement in the equity of Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft, both of which now trade as the last two independent publicly traded publishers of comparable scale. Take-Two closed up 6.8% on the news. Ubisoft, already under pressure from Tencent, rose 9.2% in Paris.
The deal leaves $11.3 billion in EA debt outstanding, which will remain in the capital structure. The acquirer is adding $22 billion in new financing, split between term loans and preferred equity. That leverage sits comfortably against $2.8 billion in trailing free cash flow, but it also means the new owners will prioritize margin expansion over top-line experimentation for at least the first eighteen months.
The takeaway
$55 billion take-private of EA removes the last pure-play sports-gaming franchise from public markets and tests buyout appetite for live-services cash flow.
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