Madden and Pokémon Go could end up inside the same operating group: an EA Savvy merger is under consideration at Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to Bloomberg reporting described by PC Gamer and PocketGamer.biz. The fund already has both businesses in its gaming portfolio. Now it is reportedly weighing a combination of Electronic Arts and Savvy Games Group, with another acquisition standing ahead of any possible deal. No final decision has been made. [1, 2]
EA Savvy Merger Remains Undecided
Bloomberg cited people “familiar with the matter,” according to PocketGamer.biz’s Craig Chapple, who reported the discussions on September 10 and described a possible way to coordinate the two companies’ assets more closely. EA declined to comment. PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk also sought responses from PIF and Savvy; his report contains no reply from either organization. The companies have announced no merger timetable. [1, 2]
PIF’s ownership of EA provides the immediate backdrop. PC Gamer reports that the fund finalized its majority acquisition in August, while PocketGamer.biz puts the buyout at $55 billion and names Silver Lake and Affinity Partners as partners. Kotaku’s Kenneth Shepard likewise describes the acquisition as complete. Those outlets distinguish the completed purchase from the new merger discussions, which have not produced an announced transaction. The proposed combination remains unconfirmed by the companies. [1–3]
Bloomberg is the common origin of the merger claim across the available coverage, so multiple articles repeating that report do not establish separate confirmation of the discussions. The EA Savvy merger has not been independently verified here. PIF has disclosed no ownership split. The fund would still have to decide how to bring the businesses together, with Savvy already pursuing another major purchase. [1–4]
Moonton Comes Before a Combination
Savvy’s pending acquisition of Moonton puts a mobile games business between the reported discussions and any eventual merger. Moonton makes Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. PC Gamer says the $6 billion acquisition was announced in March, while PocketGamer.biz reports that a move to combine EA and Savvy is unlikely before that purchase closes. Neither account supplies a confirmed date for an EA transaction to follow it. [1, 2]
Moonton’s completion is a reported prerequisite. Bloomberg’s sources, as described in the coverage, place the deals in sequence without saying that finishing the first would automatically trigger the second. PIF could still leave the businesses separate. For now, Savvy has an acquisition to complete while the fund considers what to do with the much larger collection of gaming operations it already controls. [1, 2]
Moonton would join a group that already stretches across mobile publishing and competitive gaming, making it part of the practical question behind the EA Savvy merger: which businesses would PIF coordinate through one organization? Savvy owns Scopely and ESL FaceIt Group. EA brings a substantial console and PC publishing operation, with franchises including Battlefield, Madden and The Sims appearing across the supplied accounts. The potential combination reaches beyond a single studio or game series. [1–4]
From Monopoly Go to Madden
Scopely anchors much of Savvy’s mobile expansion. PocketGamer.biz reports that Savvy bought the Monopoly Go developer in 2023 for $4.9 billion, after which Scopely acquired Niantic’s games teams behind titles including Pokémon Go for $3.5 billion. The same account identifies another purchase: Turkish studio Loom Games, developer of Pixel Flow, in a deal valuing that company above $1 billion. Moonton would extend this already substantial collection. Bringing EA into it would place established console and PC franchises inside a broader organization that also contains mobile developers and esports businesses, although the reporting does not set out how individual studios would operate after a merger. [2]
ESL and FaceIt supply the esports branch. Savvy combined them into ESL FaceIt Group, according to PocketGamer.biz, which also reports that PIF transferred gaming shares worth $12 billion to Savvy earlier this year. Nintendo and Bandai Namco feature among those investments. Shareholdings are distinct from the acquired businesses; the report does not describe Nintendo or Bandai Namco as companies that Savvy bought outright. [2]
EA adds Apex Legends and The Sims. Kotaku names both among the publisher’s franchises, while DualShockers points to Battlefield and Dead Space when describing a combination that would extend Savvy’s reach across console and PC games. The coverage announces no game crossovers. The immediate story concerns who coordinates the companies behind those games, and the executive now running Savvy has a connection to EA’s purchase. [3, 4]
Savvy Changes Leaders as Talks Surface
Brian Ward is stepping down. PocketGamer.biz reports that Savvy’s chief executive announced his departure shortly before the merger story emerged, with senior PIF executive Turqi Alnowaiser taking over as interim boss. Alnowaiser helped with the EA deal. His appointment puts an executive familiar with that purchase at the head of Savvy while the fund reportedly considers combining the businesses. [2]
Bloomberg’s reported rationale is to “ensure better coordination between its assets,” as quoted by Kotaku. Under the arrangement described in that coverage, PIF could use one organization to acquire companies and develop games instead of maintaining several subsidiaries that operate independently. The reports do not name a leader for a merged company. They also leave open how Silver Lake and Affinity Partners would fit into the resulting ownership structure. [2, 3]
PIF’s decisions belong to a wider run of changes in who finances and publishes major games, a subject also visible in Physint finding a publisher in Xbox after Sony stepped away. Here, the reported talks concern entire businesses with existing catalogs and employees. PC Gamer identifies PIF chairman Mohammed bin Salman as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler; the fund’s next decision would reach across companies already assembled under its investment portfolio. [1]
Jobs and Approval Remain Open
EA employees already face uncertainty from the buyout. PC Gamer reports that staff are bracing for cuts as the company takes on an $18 billion debt load associated with the acquisition, and Kotaku describes workers anticipating layoffs while lacking clarity about the consequences. Neither account announces merger-related job cuts. Chalk raises the possibility that combining duplicated operations could reduce costs, but that is analysis of a potential outcome, not a disclosed staffing plan. [1, 3]
Regulators present another unresolved step. PC Gamer and DualShockers say a potential deal would face regulatory hurdles (official scrutiny of the proposed combination), with Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition appearing in the coverage as a comparison. The supplied reports identify no ruling, formal investigation or specific condition imposed on an EA Savvy merger. They give no basis for treating approval as certain, or for declaring that authorities have already blocked a proposal. [1, 4]
EA declined PC Gamer’s request for comment. Savvy still has Moonton to acquire. Silver Lake and Affinity Partners’ positions remain unresolved. [1, 2]
PIF would have to settle those partners’ roles before the public could assess how an EA Savvy merger changes the ownership arrangements established through the buyout. PocketGamer.biz says their treatment remains unclear. The reporting also leaves unanswered who would run the combined business, how individual studios would operate and what happens to the people developing its games. Neither EA nor Savvy has supplied those details in the available coverage. [1, 2]
- ONLINE NEWS Chalk, A. (2026, September 10). Saudi Arabia reportedly looking at merging Electronic Arts with Savvy Games Group. PC Gamer. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Chapple, C. (2026, September 10). Report: Saudi Arabia’s PIF mulls EA and Savvy merger. PocketGamer.biz. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Shepard, K. (2026, September 10). Saudi Arabia reportedly considers EA and Savvy merger. Kotaku. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Manning, M. (2026, September 10). Electronic Arts and Savvy Games facing merger via Saudi wealth fund. DualShockers. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Saudi Arabia considers merging EA with Savvy Games Group. (n.d.). Dot Esports. [Article Link]
