Electronic Arts is becoming a private company in less than a week.
Breaking news come today regarding the EA buyout. Electronic Arts is expecting to go fully private as the buyout concludes by August 4th, 2026 as per today's SEC filing report.
EA, The Sims Franchise and other Intellectual Properties (IPs) are falling under ownership of new investors - including Saudi Arabia's PIF and Jared Kushner as the main investors in this transaction.
Read the noteworthy statement below:
As of July 30, 2026, all regulatory approvals required to complete the Merger have been obtained. Electronic Arts currently expects the Merger to close on or about the close of trading on August 4, 2026. Completion of the Merger remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining customary closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement.
The news come just days after the report that the European Commission gave full approval to the EA buyout transaction.
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control of Electronic Arts Inc. of the US by the Public Investment Fund (‘PIF') of Saudi Arabia.
Not only are there no more obstacles for the $55 billion deal to go through, but now it's all happening in less than a week.
August 4th, 2026 is the date that EA and all IPs under its property are going in private ownership.
a November filing with Brazil’s antitrust regulator shows PIF would own 93.4% of EA, while Silver Lake and Affinity would own 5.5% and 1.1% respectively. That puts the onus on PIF to fund almost all of the deal.
It's all finished now. What do you think about the EA buyout completing on August 4th, 2026? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for upcoming EA news.
21 Comments
SpacyQueso
Is there a way to delete my account without losing everything i paid for? Like can i use a different loader with the legit stuff?
Whitney
Reply to SpacyQueso
Doubt it unfortunately.
Silver
Reply to SpacyQueso
Short answer: No.
Long answer: All purchased EA content, be it the Sims, Dragon Age/Mass Effect, or their myriad sports games, are all tied to the EA account even if they were purchased through Steam or a place like CDKeys. You can’t even legit bypass the launcher to launch your legit games through Steam or the raw .exe itself–it’s all tied to the EA Account and their launcher. If you delete your account, you delete your access to things you already paid for, full stop.
Now mind you there are always ways around that…but for legal reasons all I can say is, for a legit purchased copy? No. EA or bust.
lee
Reply to SpacyQueso
lmao
you’re beat
Wirew
Time to finally see who all continues to buy their products.
Jeremia Lecato
August 4th is coming next week, because Caribbean cultures is being excluded while Royalty & Legacy has become a final pack, why I’m not getting anything for The Sims 4, y- OK! Listen to my story like I said! Please do! Cause listen up! After the EA buyout, I’m not getting anything for The Sims 4! Lemme tell y’all why! Because in all those years, I looked up on anybody who are part of The Sims community who are being disappointed in me, have problems with me, and/or blocked me, I have put up with negativity such as being disappointed by them for some goddamn reasons, right? Being disappointed by them for some reasons, being heckled at for some reasons, being pissed off at me for some reason due to my behavior. And then they’re telling me “Jeremia, you get what you want, and you don’t get upset!”, and I feel some type of way, and everybody’s being disappointed in me due to my behavior, and I bought many Sims 4 packs, and I have no problems, and me and my fellow Caribbean simmers all wanted love and support by anybody. So no! Now I’m leaving!
Amin
Reply to Jeremia Lecato
I’m gonna delete Sims and all the games from this company if this happens
Silver
Reply to Amin
Then you’re going to be getting plenty of harddrive space back, because this is happening.
That said, and to be genuine with you: it doesn’t matter if you do or don’t delete the stuff *you already purchased*. EA has your money already; deleting games you purchased a year, two years, three years ago? It’s not going to suddenly make that money evaporate from their financials, it’s already been given over. Deleting games you enjoyed just makes *you* more miserable.
Like, don’t buy Sims 5/4 Refreshed. Don’t buy the next Dragon Age/Mass Effect/Bioware RPG. Don’t buy the next EA licensed sports title or Star Wars whatever they come up with. Don’t give them any *more* of your money going forward. *Obviously* don’t buy any Moola. Don’t offer them any funding or respite going *forward*, but the packs and whatnot you already purchased? That ship has sailed. You may as well keep having fun with it.
Mandy
Reply to Amin
It is happening and who does that hurt ,Yourself . Just don’t buy any more .
lee
Reply to Jeremia Lecato
do you even know what you’re saying?. you do know they were investors before?? you were still supporting them, so sit down and do research
Denise Curtis
Well after 25+ years of being a die-hard Simmer, not no more. I will never support anyone that doesn’t believe in human rights!! So long to the Sims and I hope your company goes bankrupt!! Hope you like supporting Dictators and Pedophiles!!!
lee
Reply to Denise Curtis
you were still supporting them before, they were investors lmao
MsMoBear
Not surprising. Not enough pushback, and of course given the current political climate, this went through the regulatory bodies with little to no issue.
So what’s next? First, current shareholders will receive their payout. After privatization, SEC filings are no longer required, public disclosure of financials are no longer required, and they’ll elect a new board at some point, who chooses the company’s direction and determines whether Wilson stays on. He may well “step down” in the future if performance isn’t good. They’ll begin restructuring the company and can make big changes without worrying about a drop in stock performance because it’s private and there are no public shareholders to worry about. They can change strategies, kill off more studios, fire more people, mainly to trim financial fat.
Many companies who are taken private will go public again through a new IPO in the future. This gives the private equity the ability to “cash” in. Think of it like flipping a house. You buy it, change it, then try to sell if off for a profit. They might do it, might not.
What can you do? The only thing that is going to impact them now is revenue generation, and you’re not going to know whether or not boycotting is working anymore. I’m sure if (likely when) they close more studios or lay off more people, it’ll show up in the news. This will be part of the enshitification process. EA may well go public in the future, but likely not in the way you know it now, and certainly not the way you knew it before things hit the fan. Better? Remains to be seen.
Emilie
Does anyone who actually plays the sims approve of this? Maybe they should’ve taken that in consideration instead on just focusing on the money!
Babs
Unfortunately I think this is the beginning of the end for the Sims in particular. They’ve already proven in their politics they don’t support real life freedoms. No one I know will continue to support EA financially once the sale is done. When Sims stops bringing in revenue (or before), they’ll just close that part of the EA franchise, then as players, we’ll really be in a pickle. I hope someone somewhere is coming up with a plan once that happens, otherwise we’ll have spent all this money on a game we cannot access.
wingweaver84
Luckily for us that the older Sims games *don’t need* the EA app to play.
Daynah
Reply to wingweaver84
The bad part of that is the fact that I don’t have a computer with a DVD Rom
Silver
Reply to Daynah
The good news is you don’t need one built into the tower. External/Portable DVD Drives are very common these days, and fairly cheap as far as electronics go especially if you get one that’s just a reader and doesn’t have writing capabilities. All your games on disk, whenever you want.
matrix54
Complete uninstall. Unless Maxis separates from EA, I have intentions of supporting or even playing the series moving forward. I would imagine within the next few months, Maxis is going to hard pivot into something everyone has wanted for years to boost those last minute numbers up, and do it poorly just to keep the news cycle going.
It was fun. Next!
FaultyTotems
I haven’t followed the Saudis investment into it. I just know they’ve had investment in since 2020. So any games purchased after that yall already gave them your money so chill. But, Jared Kushner? Yea no, delete or be spied on for sure. Get ready for even more in game advertising, im talking about ads like domino’s and walmart etc. The game is going to merge to an bombardment of micro transactions more egregious than all the ones already. Crypto will probably implemented and palantir a huge part. Back to Sims 1 as my final sims form, only one I can play without the app. Which is still fun.
Michael Ottinger
Yeah, not gonna buy any more packs after this. A shame.
Welcome to Sims Community!
Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We
want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space.
In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience.
Simply put, keep it civil.
Your post will/might be rejected if it contains:
Spam
Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind
Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice:
Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments
Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
So, how can you be a power user?
Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across.
'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions!
Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please note that we're aware of certain
issues with Sign In / Log In and Create Account / Email Confirmation issues. We're working
behind-the-scenes on a new Account Creation process. Thank you for your patience and
remember - freedom of speech is not freedom of reach
As though there has been any shortage of activity coming out of the marketplace and the Sims 4 Maker Packs that it produces, another two maker packs have hit the front page of the Sims 4 Marketplace; A new Y2K-themed bedroom collection by maker AlexCroft and a simple desk clutter collection by maker Kerriganhouse are…
A New CLOSED Sims 4 Survey Has Appeared! With little prompting and only sent to certain playtesters, a new official survey from EA has surfaced! A closed Sims 4 Survey, meaning that only certain people were given access to it, was sent out that covers overall satisfaction with The Sims 4 and the Sims Franchise…
More Insider Information on The Sims 4 Pack Performance & Project X Has Dropped. With EA, Project X, and The Sims 4, it never takes long for new insider information to come out about production, development, and the inner workings of Electronic Arts and their game development. The well-known ATRL Insider has graced us with…
While the dust settles from the much larger InZOI Update that hit yesterday, September 3rd 2026, the InZOI Development Team as well as Producer & Director Hyungjun ‘Kjun’ Kim are hard at work developing a wide variety of new features, systems, and assets to be added to the game in the future. Since planning and…
Sea Stars, Sea Turtles, Sea Urchins, Oh My! The major InZOI Vacations Update has dropped! While vacations aren’t the only part of this decently large update, they are a real centerpiece of the gameplay expansions surrounding this update. Released on September 3rd, 2026, the InZOI September Update added loads of new features outside of vacations…
In just over one week, six new Sims 4 Maker Packs have been released on the Marketplace, and today three more have been added! The new sets are by creators Mechtasims, MADLEN, and ValiaSims, bringing with them new hair and furniture for our Sims. Check them out below! The Latest Sims 4 Maker Packs! Replay…
New features have arrived with in the latest InZOI Update! The KRAFTON team has just released a new InZOI Update on Steam and Mac App Stores worldwide. This September Update adds both quality of life improvements as well as new features, including ability to vacation in any world, expanded interactions, an entire Dine Out experience…
As we celebrate The Sims 4’s 12th anniversary, we look into the repeating pattern of what’s coming next. Happy birthday to The Sims 4 Base Game, which released first in United States back on September 2nd, 2014. With the retail version being $60, Deluxe and Limited Editions with 70$ and above prices, this launch felt…
Another Build Maker Pack enters The Sims 4 Marketplace! The Sims Team has dropped a new The Sims 4 Maker Pack on the Marketplace just after releasing two yesterday. Titled “Soft Balance” by Comiko, this Maker Pack gives you 10 Build Mode objects in exchange for 200 Moola – or 2 dollars. Find out alll…
Today, September 1st 2026, The Sims 4 Quality Assurance and Quality Verification team answered the community’s questions in the latest Q&A over on the Sims 4 official Discord server. The next update for The Sims 4 is due to launch September 22nd, and with it comes fixes for the most upvoted bug on the forum.…
21 Comments
Is there a way to delete my account without losing everything i paid for? Like can i use a different loader with the legit stuff?
Reply to SpacyQueso
Doubt it unfortunately.
Reply to SpacyQueso
Short answer: No.
Long answer: All purchased EA content, be it the Sims, Dragon Age/Mass Effect, or their myriad sports games, are all tied to the EA account even if they were purchased through Steam or a place like CDKeys. You can’t even legit bypass the launcher to launch your legit games through Steam or the raw .exe itself–it’s all tied to the EA Account and their launcher. If you delete your account, you delete your access to things you already paid for, full stop.
Now mind you there are always ways around that…but for legal reasons all I can say is, for a legit purchased copy? No. EA or bust.
Reply to SpacyQueso
lmao
you’re beat
Time to finally see who all continues to buy their products.
August 4th is coming next week, because Caribbean cultures is being excluded while Royalty & Legacy has become a final pack, why I’m not getting anything for The Sims 4, y- OK! Listen to my story like I said! Please do! Cause listen up! After the EA buyout, I’m not getting anything for The Sims 4! Lemme tell y’all why! Because in all those years, I looked up on anybody who are part of The Sims community who are being disappointed in me, have problems with me, and/or blocked me, I have put up with negativity such as being disappointed by them for some goddamn reasons, right? Being disappointed by them for some reasons, being heckled at for some reasons, being pissed off at me for some reason due to my behavior. And then they’re telling me “Jeremia, you get what you want, and you don’t get upset!”, and I feel some type of way, and everybody’s being disappointed in me due to my behavior, and I bought many Sims 4 packs, and I have no problems, and me and my fellow Caribbean simmers all wanted love and support by anybody. So no! Now I’m leaving!
Reply to Jeremia Lecato
I’m gonna delete Sims and all the games from this company if this happens
Reply to Amin
Then you’re going to be getting plenty of harddrive space back, because this is happening.
That said, and to be genuine with you: it doesn’t matter if you do or don’t delete the stuff *you already purchased*. EA has your money already; deleting games you purchased a year, two years, three years ago? It’s not going to suddenly make that money evaporate from their financials, it’s already been given over. Deleting games you enjoyed just makes *you* more miserable.
Like, don’t buy Sims 5/4 Refreshed. Don’t buy the next Dragon Age/Mass Effect/Bioware RPG. Don’t buy the next EA licensed sports title or Star Wars whatever they come up with. Don’t give them any *more* of your money going forward. *Obviously* don’t buy any Moola. Don’t offer them any funding or respite going *forward*, but the packs and whatnot you already purchased? That ship has sailed. You may as well keep having fun with it.
Reply to Amin
It is happening and who does that hurt ,Yourself . Just don’t buy any more .
Reply to Jeremia Lecato
do you even know what you’re saying?. you do know they were investors before?? you were still supporting them, so sit down and do research
Well after 25+ years of being a die-hard Simmer, not no more. I will never support anyone that doesn’t believe in human rights!! So long to the Sims and I hope your company goes bankrupt!! Hope you like supporting Dictators and Pedophiles!!!
Reply to Denise Curtis
you were still supporting them before, they were investors lmao
Not surprising. Not enough pushback, and of course given the current political climate, this went through the regulatory bodies with little to no issue.
So what’s next? First, current shareholders will receive their payout. After privatization, SEC filings are no longer required, public disclosure of financials are no longer required, and they’ll elect a new board at some point, who chooses the company’s direction and determines whether Wilson stays on. He may well “step down” in the future if performance isn’t good. They’ll begin restructuring the company and can make big changes without worrying about a drop in stock performance because it’s private and there are no public shareholders to worry about. They can change strategies, kill off more studios, fire more people, mainly to trim financial fat.
Many companies who are taken private will go public again through a new IPO in the future. This gives the private equity the ability to “cash” in. Think of it like flipping a house. You buy it, change it, then try to sell if off for a profit. They might do it, might not.
What can you do? The only thing that is going to impact them now is revenue generation, and you’re not going to know whether or not boycotting is working anymore. I’m sure if (likely when) they close more studios or lay off more people, it’ll show up in the news. This will be part of the enshitification process. EA may well go public in the future, but likely not in the way you know it now, and certainly not the way you knew it before things hit the fan. Better? Remains to be seen.
Does anyone who actually plays the sims approve of this? Maybe they should’ve taken that in consideration instead on just focusing on the money!
Unfortunately I think this is the beginning of the end for the Sims in particular. They’ve already proven in their politics they don’t support real life freedoms. No one I know will continue to support EA financially once the sale is done. When Sims stops bringing in revenue (or before), they’ll just close that part of the EA franchise, then as players, we’ll really be in a pickle. I hope someone somewhere is coming up with a plan once that happens, otherwise we’ll have spent all this money on a game we cannot access.
Luckily for us that the older Sims games *don’t need* the EA app to play.
Reply to wingweaver84
The bad part of that is the fact that I don’t have a computer with a DVD Rom
Reply to Daynah
The good news is you don’t need one built into the tower. External/Portable DVD Drives are very common these days, and fairly cheap as far as electronics go especially if you get one that’s just a reader and doesn’t have writing capabilities. All your games on disk, whenever you want.
Complete uninstall. Unless Maxis separates from EA, I have intentions of supporting or even playing the series moving forward. I would imagine within the next few months, Maxis is going to hard pivot into something everyone has wanted for years to boost those last minute numbers up, and do it poorly just to keep the news cycle going.
It was fun. Next!
I haven’t followed the Saudis investment into it. I just know they’ve had investment in since 2020. So any games purchased after that yall already gave them your money so chill. But, Jared Kushner? Yea no, delete or be spied on for sure. Get ready for even more in game advertising, im talking about ads like domino’s and walmart etc. The game is going to merge to an bombardment of micro transactions more egregious than all the ones already. Crypto will probably implemented and palantir a huge part. Back to Sims 1 as my final sims form, only one I can play without the app. Which is still fun.
Yeah, not gonna buy any more packs after this. A shame.
Welcome to Sims Community!
Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space.
In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil.
Your post will/might be rejected if it contains:
User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice:
So, how can you be a power user?
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please note that we're aware of certain issues with Sign In / Log In and Create Account / Email Confirmation issues. We're working behind-the-scenes on a new Account Creation process. Thank you for your patience and remember - freedom of speech is not freedom of reach