Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists". EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's Skate or Die! The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991. Into the 21st century, EA develops and publishes games of established franchises, including Army of Two, Battlefield, Command & Conquer, Dragon Age, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Medal of Honor, Need for Speed, Plants vs. Zombies, The Sims, Skate, SSX, and Star Wars, as well as the EA Sports titles College Football, Dirt Rally, FC–FIFA, Madden NFL, NASCAR, NBA Live, NHL, PGA, UFC, and WRC. Since 2022, its desktop titles appear on the self-developed EA App, an online gaming digital distribution platform for PCs and a direct competitor to Valve's Steam and Epic Games' Store. EA also owns and operates major gaming studios such as BioWare, Battlefield Studios (Criterion Games, DICE, Motive Studio, and Ripple Effect Studios), and Respawn Entertainment. EA announced plans for a leveraged buyout and will become privately owned by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners for $55 billion in September 2025, including $20 billion in debt equity. If completed, it would be the largest leveraged buyout to date. The deal is expected to close by June 2026, pending regulatory approval and shareholder agreement. A regulatory filing in Brazil revealed the PIF would own 93 %, Silver Lake 5 % and Affinity 1 %.