EA Buy Could Assist PIF Compete in Asia-Led Mobile Gaming Enterprise

The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s pending buy of Electronic Arts, agreed in partnership with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners in September, is about to bolster PIF’s holdings in cell gaming—by far the most well-liked method customers work together with the trade worldwide.

This yr, cell has crushed PC and console in downloads (52 billion-plus to 1 billion-plus) and estimated income ($82 billion to $12 billion), in keeping with new analysis from Video Game Insights. In Q3 2025, cell income hit $20 billion and reached its highest quarterly tally since Q3 2021.

But coming into 2025, PIF trailed companies in East Asia, notably in China, in its capability to achieve avid gamers on cell units with smash hits.

As PIF goals to satisfy its mission of changing into the world’s preeminent energy within the enterprise of video video games, EA’s properties might assist it bridge the hole. PIF additionally agreed to purchase the gaming division of cell specialist Niantic in March.

Chinese giants Tencent ($743 billion market cap), NetEase ($89 billion) and Zhejiang Century Huatong Group Co. ($19 billion) personal three of the highest 10 cell video games by downloads from the beginning of 2025 by September, in keeping with VGI. When measuring by downloads fairly than income, the nation’s corporations have at the least a stake in 4 of the highest 10 video games.

Hong Kong (Hungry Studio), Japan (The Pokémon Company), Singapore (Sea Limited and Funfly) and South Korea (Supercent) are additionally represented within the rankings. Before the EA deal, PIF had majority possession of only one title within the rankings: Monopoly Go!, the No. 5 recreation in income thus far this yr.

PIF will achieve one other top-10 cell recreation in downloads—EA Sports FC Mobile Soccer—by its record-breaking leveraged buyout of EA at greater than $50 billion. It held a 9.9% stake in EA earlier than the acquisition.

EA sees greater than 4 instances as many cell downloads because it does PC and console, per VGI, although console packs a a lot larger per-user income punch and is maybe what the corporate is greatest recognized for within the U.S.

EA Sports FC Mobile Soccer has accounted for over 95 million downloads this yr, about 35% of the writer’s whole on cell, in keeping with VGI. The Sims FreePlay, Plants vs. Zombies and EA Sports NBA Live Mobile are different vital obtain drivers for the writer.

However, EA lags in changing cell downloads to income. Despite EA Sports FC Mobile Soccer giving the corporate a top-10 most-downloaded cell recreation this yr, EA is No. 22 for total in-app buy income year-to-date.

“EA has IPs with strong reach that allow them to drive outsized downloads, but perhaps they don’t monetize these downloads as well as their competitors,” VGI head of enterprise improvement Vic Bassey wrote in an e-mail.

EA inventory was buying and selling at about $170 per share when information of the take-private was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. EA shareholders will obtain $210 per share in money, the corporate stated in a launch, with the per-share buy value representing a 25% premium on the Sept. 25 market shut value.

Getting EA’s console success to feed into cell development shall be a key a part of maximizing the worth of the settlement.

“Mobile excels in scale; PC/console in revenue per unit. The winning strategy is to let mobile’s broad funnel feed premium ecosystems—maximizing total franchise growth across platforms,” the VGI research stated.

In addition to manage possession of Savvy Games, which oversees the studio behind Monopoly Go!, and shortly EA, PIF has stakes in Take-Two Interactive (maker of NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto) and Nintendo (the Mario universe), amongst different trade holdings with broad enchantment.

“Gaming has become a national priority,” an article on PIF’s official web site stated earlier this yr. PIF launched its National Gaming and Esports Strategy in 2022 to prepare its gaming investments.