US representative Maxwell Frost protests Saudi buyout of EA
Maxwell Frost, a US representative for Florida's 10th congressional district since 2023, joined a Twitch livestream to voice concerns over the planned buyout of EA by an investor consortium that includes Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and an investment firm founded by US president Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The livestream, which has since been uploaded to YouTube, was hosted by content creators Zefrine and Lilsimsie, the latter is a prominent streamer of The Sims, which is published by EA. When speaking about the potential ramifications of the buyout, which would lead to Saudi Arabia owning 93.4 percent of EA, Frost shared concerns about potential layoffs.
"I know this for a fact that they will be utilizing AI to essentially fire loads of people, whether it's developers, artists, or different folks who work there to cut costs and make the leverage buyout worth it," the representative said.
Frost's argument is that, on paper, the investor consortium is proposing to pay more than what the company is worth—the proposed deal amounts to $55 billion, while, at the time of writing, EA has $50.94 billion market capitalization (according to Google). In his words, when investors do this, it's because in the back of their mind, they're saying, when we own it, we're going to make it worth it.
"And you have to ask yourself, how are they making it worth it? Well, they're making it worth it by firing tons of people, by selling off parts of the company, by completely changing the thing that the company produces, the games, by figuring out ways to monetize the fanbase even more, right? And you could see that through things costing more, subscription packages costing more, the DLC packages costing more," he said.
Back in October of last year, EA published a FAQ that was made available to all employees days after agreeing to the acquisition. In it, the company said "there will be no immediate changes to your job, team, or daily work, as a result of this transaction." The word "immediate" definitely rings a bell or two, and in addition, EA insisted it will need "world class teams" to expand its global reach and drive innovation as a private company—what this means for employees, however, remains unseen.
Regarding the AI claim, Frost's statement echoes a report from the Financial Times, in which the publication said that investors close to the deal are betting that AI-based cost reductions will significantly boost EA's profits in the future. EA boss Andrew Wilson, who will retain his position as CEO under the new regime, has previously thrown his weight behind generative AI as a cost-cutting tool—despite the technology garnering a largely negative reception from developers in recent years, with many arguing it has a corrosive effect on the industry.
"Investors are betting that AI-based cost cuts will significantly boost EAs profits in coming years," according to people involved in the transaction. "The deal is a huge bet that artificial intelligence can significantly cut EA's operating costs, allowing the equity consortium to manage a large debt load on a company that historically carried limited net debt."
Lilsimsie is now encouraging her viewers to sign a petition to block the EA buyout, join a related Discord server, and for people in the US to contact their representatives to share concerns about the buyout.
As shared via Sims Community, as well as social media, the EA Creator Network reportedly received a message regarding the livestream, providing guidelines and saying that "there's no expectation" to "engage with or respond to this conversation." Creators who do get questions from the community were reportedly encouraged to "let people know you don't have any additional information to share," direct folks to the official Sims channels for updates, and ultimately, to "take space if things feel overwhelming."
Game Developer has reached out to Maxwell Frost to ask whether his claims are based on firsthand knowledge.
