Saudi wealth fund weighs EA-Savvy merger, Bloomberg News reports

Sept 10 : Saudi Arabia's wealth fund is considering merging Electronic Arts with Savvy Games to create a gaming giant, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The merger of the two companies, both controlled by the Public Investment Fund, would create a gaming behemoth spanning franchises, including EA Sports FC, Battlefield and The Sims, and Savvy-owned mobile hits such as Monopoly Go! and Pokemon GO.

PIF had acquired EA through a consortium for roughly $55 billion last month and taken the videogame publisher private.

A final decision on the two companies' merger has not been reached and a deal is unlikely to happen until Savvy completes its $6-billion acquisition of Chinese mobile gaming business Moonton, the report added.

Electronic Arts and Savvy Games did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Saudi PIF declined to comment.

Any combination, however, could face antitrust scrutiny as regulators have taken a close look at large gaming-sector transactions in recent years, including Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The deliberations come as the gaming industry grapples with a post-pandemic slowdown, cost cuts and layoffs, while companies pursue scale and durable recurring revenue.

Savvy's CEO Brian Ward stepped down last week after overseeing the Saudi-backed group's global investment and acquisition push.