Saudi plans for video game hub grow with 55 billion EA deal

The Esports World Cup 2025 at Boulevard City Arena in Riyadh on Aug. 2. Saudi Arabia is focusing on gaming as part of a national strategy to create tens of thousands of new jobs and diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil. Saudi Arabia is accelerating plans to transform itself into a hub for gamers with its blockbuster deal to take Electronic Arts private. In addition to an existing $5 billion equity stake it is rolling over into the new entity, the kingdom's Public Investment Fund is providing more fresh capital than partners Silver Lake Management and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners to buy out the other public investors, according to people familiar with the matter. That's made it the largest contributor to the $36 billion in equity being put in to finance the deal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.