EA Conducts Its Third Round of Layoffs This Year Across US and India as the $55 Billion Saudi-Led Buyout Nears Completion
EA cut an undisclosed number of jobs in customer support, IT, recruitment, and trust and safety across US remote roles and its Hyderabad office, its third layoff round of 2026 as the PIF-led buyout closes in.
Overview
Electronic Arts has carried out another round of job cuts, its third this year, affecting workers across the United States and India as the publisher moves toward completing the largest leveraged buyout in corporate history. According to Insider Gaming, the cuts hit recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT roles, while development positions were spared. The reductions land as EA is being acquired for $55 billion by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as reported by Game Rant.
What We Know
The layoffs spanned two areas. According to Game Developer, the affected staff worked across recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT, with the cuts reaching remote roles in the US and staff at EA’s office in Hyderabad, India. Game Rant described the impact as falling on workers in the US and in India, with a mix of remote roles and in-person positions.
No headcount figure has been disclosed. Game Developer reported that no specific number of reductions was announced, and Insider Gaming likewise characterized it as an undisclosed number of employees. Game Rant noted that some impacted employees were reportedly at the company for ten years or more, and pointed to an internal department-head message that referenced changes to some roles, adjustments to what teams are covering, and the creation of new roles.
This is the third wave of EA layoffs in 2026. Game Developer reported that earlier rounds this year hit the Battlefield division, comprising the Criterion, DICE, Ripple Effect, and Motive studios, as well as Full Circle, the studio behind Skate. EA declined to provide comment on the story, Game Developer reported.
The Buyout Backdrop
The cuts come as EA approaches the close of a take-private deal valued at $55 billion, according to TweakTown. The transaction would pay shareholders $210 per share, a 25 percent premium, and became the largest leveraged buyout to date and the second-largest gaming acquisition after Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, according to Wikipedia’s record of the proposed buyout.
The buyer group is a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the private equity firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, the firm founded by Jared Kushner, according to TweakTown. PIF would provide most of the roughly $36 billion in equity and become the majority owner, with Silver Lake holding a significant minority stake and Affinity Partners owning five percent, according to Wikipedia. Insider Gaming reported that the fund would hold a 93.4 percent ownership stake once the deal is completed. EA’s management is set to remain intact, with CEO Andrew Wilson continuing to lead the company, according to TweakTown.
EA shareholders approved the deal in a vote on December 22, as reported by TweakTown. The transaction still requires US federal government approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and closure was expected by June 2026, according to Wikipedia. The Machine Herald previously reported on the shareholder approval and on a Canadian union’s call for a national-security review of the deal.
What We Don’t Know
The scale of the latest cuts remains unclear, with no source providing a headcount. It is also not specified how the layoffs relate operationally to the pending ownership change, beyond the timing. The exact closing date of the buyout and the status of the CFIUS review were not confirmed by the sources reviewed here.