{"id":2006110,"date":"2026-06-23T09:01:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T06:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2006110"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:01:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T06:01:42","slug":"ea-lays-off-yet-another-wave-of-staff-in-the-run-up-to-sale-to-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2006110","title":{"rendered":"EA lays off yet another wave of staff in the run up to sale to Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">EA lays off yet another wave of staff in the run up to sale to Saudi Arabia<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Sections including customer support and trust and safety reportedly affected.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/ea-logo_tMgccMU.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"ea-logo_tMgccMU.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><\/p>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/connor-makar\">Connor Makar<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Staff Writer<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-06-23T09:01:42+00:00\">June 23, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-more-layoffs-june-2026?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          7 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"fd0bd0f1-4ad4-4a5f-b709-2c936e494119\" data-name=\"Battlefield 6\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Battlefield 6\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Battlefield 6\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Battlefield 6\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Battlefield 6\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Battlefield 6\" title=\"Follow Battlefield 6\"><br \/>\n  Follow Battlefield 6<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>EA has laid off an unspecified number of staff yet again, its third wave of staffing cuts this year. This comes as the $55bn Saudi Arabian leveraged buyout of the company marches closer.<\/p>\n<p>First reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/ea-layoffs-fan-care-recruitment-hyderabad-2000708971\">Kotaku<\/a>, staff from across its recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT teams have been affected, according to the outlet&#8217;s sources. Social media posts from several now-former staff at the gaming giant have also announced their departure from the company, seeming to corroborate the report.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Mass Effect - Official N7 Day Teaser Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LBG3dp5QtTk?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LBG3dp5QtTk\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Mass Effect &#8211; Official N7 Day Teaser Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Here&#8217;s a trailer for the upcoming Mass Effect game.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LBG3dp5QtTk\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many of these public social media posts come from staff working remote both within and outside the USA. Eurogamer has contacted EA for comment.<\/p>\n<p>This comes in the wake of gigantic shifts for the company. For one EA, like many software companies, is embracing AI. CEO Andrew Wilson said in late <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ai-is-the-very-core-of-our-business-says-ea-ceo\">2024 that AI was &#8220;the very core of our business&#8221;<\/a>, with him claiming the company had over 100 AI projects in the works. AI has been used as justification for job cuts across many companies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4gy0x0j5deo\">not only limited to the video game industry<\/a>, though EA executive Laura Miele has come out to share her belief it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/senior-ea-exec-laura-miele-thinks-ai-has-led-to-a-real-rise-of-creativity-among-the-publishers-studios\">has led to a &#8220;real rise of creativity&#8221; among the  publisher&#8217;s studios<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In addition, the leveraged buyout of EA by the state-owned Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is imminent. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-almost-entirely-owned-by-saudi-arabia-sale\">The nation will own &#8211; via its state wealth fund &#8211; 93.4 percent of the company<\/a> if the deal goes through. The buyout is meant to go through within the next few months, with only an European <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/litigation\/saudis-seek-eu-approval-55-billion-ea-deal-decision-by-july-22-2026-06-17\/\">anti-trust approval verdict on a 23rd July deadline holding it back<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This leveraged buyout, if approved, would be the largest of all time. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-privately-acquired-in-55bn-deal-by-group-of-investors-including-saudi-arabias-investment-fund-and-donald-trumps-son-in-law\">First announced in September 2025<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-private-acquisition-deal-expected-to-go-smoothly-says-report-as-what-regulator-is-going-to-say-no-to-the-presidents-son-in-law\">the deal is expected to go ahead without much resistance<\/a> due in part to the involvement of Saudi Arabia and USA president Donald Trump&#8217;s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Nonetheless, these plans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-union-workers-rally-against-55bn-saudi-backed-private-acquisition-with-formal-petition-to-regulators\">have been protested by both video game unions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/eas-takeover-the-saudi-arabian-public-investment-fund-and-vanity-mega-projects-human-rights-watch-assesses-the-impact-of-gamings-latest-controversy\">human rights groups<\/a>. When exactly this deal will go through, and how many of EA&#8217;s current staff will be present when it does, remains unclear.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>EA has laid off an unspecified number of staff yet again, its third wave of staffing cuts this year. This comes as the $55bn Saudi Arabian leveraged buyout of the company marches closer.<\/p>\n<p>First reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/ea-layoffs-fan-care-recruitment-hyderabad-2000708971\">Kotaku<\/a>, staff from across its recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT teams have been affected, according to the outlet&#8217;s sources. Social media posts from several now-former staff at the gaming giant have also announced their departure from the company, seeming to corroborate the report.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Mass Effect - Official N7 Day Teaser Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LBG3dp5QtTk?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LBG3dp5QtTk\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Mass Effect &#8211; Official N7 Day Teaser Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Here&#8217;s a trailer for the upcoming Mass Effect game.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LBG3dp5QtTk\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many of these public social media posts come from staff working remote both within and outside the USA. Eurogamer has contacted EA for comment.<\/p>\n<p>This comes in the wake of gigantic shifts for the company. For one EA, like many software companies, is embracing AI. CEO Andrew Wilson said in late <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ai-is-the-very-core-of-our-business-says-ea-ceo\">2024 that AI was &#8220;the very core of our business&#8221;<\/a>, with him claiming the company had over 100 AI projects in the works. AI has been used as justification for job cuts across many companies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4gy0x0j5deo\">not only limited to the video game industry<\/a>, though EA executive Laura Miele has come out to share her belief it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/senior-ea-exec-laura-miele-thinks-ai-has-led-to-a-real-rise-of-creativity-among-the-publishers-studios\">has led to a &#8220;real rise of creativity&#8221; among the  publisher&#8217;s studios<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In addition, the leveraged buyout of EA by the state-owned Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is imminent. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-almost-entirely-owned-by-saudi-arabia-sale\">The nation will own &#8211; via its state wealth fund &#8211; 93.4 percent of the company<\/a> if the deal goes through. The buyout is meant to go through within the next few months, with only an European <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/litigation\/saudis-seek-eu-approval-55-billion-ea-deal-decision-by-july-22-2026-06-17\/\">anti-trust approval verdict on a 23rd July deadline holding it back<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This leveraged buyout, if approved, would be the largest of all time. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-privately-acquired-in-55bn-deal-by-group-of-investors-including-saudi-arabias-investment-fund-and-donald-trumps-son-in-law\">First announced in September 2025<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-private-acquisition-deal-expected-to-go-smoothly-says-report-as-what-regulator-is-going-to-say-no-to-the-presidents-son-in-law\">the deal is expected to go ahead without much resistance<\/a> due in part to the involvement of Saudi Arabia and USA president Donald Trump&#8217;s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Nonetheless, these plans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-union-workers-rally-against-55bn-saudi-backed-private-acquisition-with-formal-petition-to-regulators\">have been protested by both video game unions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/eas-takeover-the-saudi-arabian-public-investment-fund-and-vanity-mega-projects-human-rights-watch-assesses-the-impact-of-gamings-latest-controversy\">human rights groups<\/a>. When exactly this deal will go through, and how many of EA&#8217;s current staff will be present when it does, remains unclear.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News EA lays off yet another wave of staff in the run up to sale to Saudi Arabia Sections including customer support and trust and safety reportedly affected. News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on June 23, 2026 7 comments Follow Battlefield 6 EA has laid off an unspecified number of staff yet [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2006110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2006110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2006110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2006110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2006110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}