CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. Urges FTC and CFIUS to Scrutinize $55 Billion Electronic Arts Buyout

Washington D.C. – In response to Electronic Arts’ (EA) recent announcement of a proposed $55 billion buyout, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Claude Cummings Jr. has sent formal letters to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) calling for a comprehensive review of the unprecedented deal’s implications for workers and consumers and for federal regulators to take all necessary steps to prevent foreign and private equity interests from destabilizing the American video game industry. The letter to the FTC can be found here, and the letter to CFIUS can be found here.

“This deal is not about innovation or growth for the U.S. economy — it’s about handing control to a small group of powerful investors and putting thousands of jobs and sensitive consumer data at risk,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “I’m calling on CFIUS Chair Scott Bessent and FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson to scrutinize this deal carefully and to ensure that this deal protects American workers, consumers, and the future of the video game industry.”

The proposed deal, which would be the largest leveraged buyout in history, would privatize one of America's largest independent video game publishers, saddling it with $20 billion in new debt. The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and private equity firms, including Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, are part of the investor consortium seeking to acquire EA. In both letters, CWA outlines several concerns and risks with the deal, including:

• Labor market competition risks posed by increasing consolidation in the video game industry, potentially allowing EA to squeeze American workers further.
• National security risks associated with the deal, including giving foreign owners access to vast collections of American video game consumers’ personal data and communications.
• National security risks associated with foreign ownership of technology developed by EA, specifically AI.
• Competition risks posed by EA’s prospective buyers’ cross-ownership of EA’s competitors, suppliers, and licensors.

Last week, United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433 (UVW-CWA), an industry-wide union for video game workers in the U.S. and Canada, released a statement raising serious concerns about the proposed deal, especially the mass layoffs that will likely result from EA being forced to take on $20 billion in new debt. Electronic Arts employs more than 4,800 workers across the U.S. — in California, Florida, Texas, and Washington — and Canada, and has already cut an estimated 1,700 U.S. jobs since 2023, adding to a record-breaking wave of mass layoffs across the video game industry.

“We are calling on regulators and elected officials to scrutinize this deal and ensure that any path forward protects jobs, preserves creative freedom, and keeps decision-making accountable to the workers who make EA successful,” the statement reads.

Workers launched a petition that has garnered support from the entire gaming community, with over 8,000 signatures from video game workers, EA employees, and fans of the Electronic Arts’ broad slate of games.

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