Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is weighing a merger between Electronic Arts and its mobile gaming subsidiary, Savvy Games Group. The combination would unite EA's console and PC franchises with Savvy's mobile portfolio, but people familiar with the talks say it won't happen before Savvy closes its pending acquisition of Moonton.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is exploring a merger between Electronic Arts and Savvy Games Group, according to a Bloomberg report cited on September 10. The move would consolidate an enormous collection of gaming franchises under a single roof, combining EA's EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, Battlefield, and The Sims with Savvy's Monopoly Go and Pokemon Go.
A $55 billion buyout sets the stage
The merger discussion follows PIF's completion of a $55 billion leveraged buyout of EA in early August 2026. That deal gave PIF approximately 93% of EA's shares, effectively taking the publisher private. Savvy, meanwhile, has been on its own acquisition spree, picking up Scopely, the studio behind Monopoly Go, and Niantic's Pokemon Go business.
Moonton first, merger second
No final decision has been reached, and people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg that any merger is unlikely before Savvy completes its $6 billion acquisition of Moonton, a deal agreed in March 2026 that would bring Mobile Legends: Bang Bang into the Savvy fold. Moonton is currently owned by ByteDance, which makes the transaction geopolitically interesting on its own. ByteDance-connected deals have attracted scrutiny in the US and Europe over the past several years, and folding a ByteDance-linked studio into a Saudi sovereign fund's gaming empire introduces further regulatory complexity.
Regulatory hurdles loom large
Any combination of EA and Savvy would face significant regulatory review given the size of the businesses involved. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023 took nearly two years to clear regulatory hurdles and required concessions in multiple jurisdictions. PIF's status as a state-owned entity adds another dimension, as some jurisdictions have grown wary of sovereign wealth fund influence in strategic technology sectors.
PIF's broader gaming ambitions
Saudi Arabia has been systematically building a gaming empire as part of its Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy, which aims to reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil revenue. Combining the EA buyout with the Moonton deal and Savvy's earlier acquisitions, PIF has committed well north of $60 billion to gaming in a remarkably short period.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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