Union seeks federal review of $55B US Electronic Arts sale over national security risks
A Canadian union is calling for a government review of the takeover of one of the world's biggest video game makers by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and a private equity firm owned by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
The Communication Workers of America Canada says the federal government should investigate the deal because national security and jobs will be at risk if a consortium of buyers — including the Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and private equity firm Silver Lake — is allowed to buy Electronic Arts Inc.
The American company has had a foothold in Canada since at least 1991, when it swallowed Distinctive Software, a Burnaby, BC-based video game developer.
EA now has five offices in the country that play a major role in the company's blockbuster football and hockey games, as well as the broader $5.1-billion Canadian video game industry.
CWA Canada says EA's sales are threatening and could not have come at a worse time. EA's rival, Ubisoft, recently laid off workers in Canada and rival Activision Blizzard was fired by Microsoft, putting everyone else in the industry on edge.
“Our concern is for the industry, because what happens here will affect everyone in that industry,” said CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth.
He represents hundreds of video game industry workers in Canada, although none are employed by EA, and said the US arm of the CWA supports thousands.
Electronic Arts, maker of video games such as The Sims and Madden NFL, is being purchased for $55 billion, the largest acquisition effort in history. Many details of the deal are still unknown, but as Michelle Ghoussoub reports, it leads to more uncertainty in the Canadian gaming industry given EA's large presence across the country.
If the EA deal goes ahead, he worries that competition across the industry will be cut off, which could lead to job losses.
“There's no way that … people working in this industry won't be affected in the long run if a company this big comes in, crushes the competition and redesigns the industry,” said Smyth.
“That's what people fear will happen.”
EA, one of the world's leading video game developers with revenue of $7.5 billion US last year and a portfolio that includes EA Sports FC, Madden NFLagain The Simsdid not respond to a request for comment about CWA Canada's concerns.
An FAQ the company sent out to employees last year answered a question about whether its sale would lead to layoffs by saying, “There will be no immediate changes to your job, team, or day-to-day work, as a result of this transaction.”
The Saudi private equity fund, which already has small investments in EA and rival Nintendo, did not respond to a request for comment. Not so with Affinity or Silver Lake.
When the consortium announced the US$55 billion deal last September, it said the transaction had approval from EA's board of directors but still needed approval from shareholders and regulators. It is not expected to close until the first quarter of EA's 2027 fiscal year, which wraps at the end of June.
Concerned about what this transaction will mean for North America, CWA Canada decided to use the window before the deal closes to take action.
CWA Canada is also the parent union of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents some employees at The Canadian Press and many employees at CBC News.
The union wrote to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly on Tuesday and the Competition Bureau in December, asking for the review to be reviewed under the Investment Canada Act and Competition Act.
The Investment Act regulates foreign investment in Canada and allows the government to review transactions to ensure they do not harm national security.
The Competition Act gives the Competition Bureau the power to investigate mergers and other business conduct to ensure that companies do not hinder innovation or that competition brings consumer benefits.
The note to Joly raises concerns that the deal could harm Canada's economic security by closely tying EA to a foreign country that would be given sensitive personal information on millions of Canadians to exploit.
“Financial information, health information, all kinds of data are collected and can be shared and used without the game users' knowledge or consent or consent,” Smyth said.
“We are equally concerned because it is Saudi Arabia,” he said, noting that the country does not have “the kind of laws, accountability and transparency that we would expect in Canada.”
The Bureau's review of the case has been completed
Cheyenne Daly, a spokeswoman for Joly, said the government could not comment on the matter “due to the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act.”
The Competition Bureau's website shows it began reviewing the merger in November 2025 and wrapped up the process at the end of March.
After the review, the bureau usually reaches one of several results: it decides that no action is necessary or it reaches an agreement in which the parties involved agree to steal the property or change their plans to maintain competition.
In the case of EA, the result is listed as “other.”
Georgia Simone Fakiolas, spokeswoman for the Competition Bureau, said that “other” means that no general results apply in this case.
“Since the bureau is required by law to keep its work confidential, I cannot provide any further details about this review,” Simone Fakiolas said in an email.
The union's letter to the office warned EA's acquisition could lead to an expansion of the company in Saudi Arabia and a contract in Canada.
Smyth told the bureau that he is particularly concerned about Canadian jobs because the sale is being financed by $20 billion in debt and analysts have suggested that the layoffs are “one of the key ways the company will seek to cut costs to pay off its huge debt.”
“The pressure to make that money back … means they're going to have to open studios. They're going to have to buy out the competition, put it together, put it down, make a much cheaper product,” he said in an interview.
“So the days of creative people dreaming up the best game they can imagine and taking years to make it happen, are all gone.”
