Dominant
The Gulf as the industry's biggest buyer
Sovereign capital is now the industry's biggest single buyer, and it arrived leveraged. Ownership questions touch labor, esports, and content decisions across the West.
Where it stands
Saudi Arabia's PIF has assembled a layered gaming portfolio (Savvy, Scopely, ESL FACEIT, listed stakes) capped by taking EA private, closed August 2026. PIF holds 93.4% directly, held outside Savvy alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Roughly $20B of purchase debt now sits on EA's own books, so the debate has shifted from sportswashing and esports capture toward layoffs, cancelled projects, and quiet self-censorship. Brian Ward, who built the portfolio from 2021, stepped down as Savvy's CEO on 1 September 2026, twelve days after the EA deal closed; PIF deputy governor Turqi Alnowaiser took over on an interim basis, moving day-to-day control closer to the fund. Consolidation of the portfolio itself is now reportedly under discussion: in September 2026 Bloomberg reported, and several trade outlets relayed, that PIF is weighing a merger of EA with Savvy that would put EA Sports FC, Madden, Battlefield, The Sims, Pokémon Go and Monopoly Go under one company. Treat it as one outlet’s anonymous sourcing — EA, Savvy and PIF all declined to comment and no decision has been taken.
Further reading
The timeline, consequences and objections for this trend are not written yet. What it is and its reading list are above.