An executive at Electronic Arts has been accused of describing employees as ‘little babies’ for expressing concerns about job security following the company’s recent buyout, according to a report from Game Developer.
Buyout and debt trigger layoff fears
EA’s plans to become a private company went through earlier this month, with new owners including a group of investors that features the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The company is expected to start laying people off almost immediately to help manage the $20 billion debt it has been saddled with. Morale within EA is reportedly at an all time low.
EA set up Q&A sessions to address concerns, but one source said, ‘Responses are mostly just vague reassurances. It hasn’t done enough to quell a lot of the fears over job security or creative influences with Saudi owners.’
Executive’s overheard comment
During an autumn 2025 meeting, many employees shared their worries about job security post-buyout. According to two corroborating sources, when the meeting ended, one of the directors of EA’s lifestyle pillar failed to turn their microphone off and was overheard calling employees ‘little babies.’
In a separate meeting, one executive commented on needing to buy their kid a new horse, which some employees felt was meant as a joke but made in poor taste and further proof of how out of touch EA’s executives are.
‘Some of us have trouble making ends meet. Some of us lost their jobs with no prospect of finding a new one. I bet most of us don’t even have one pony,’ says one employee.
Concerns about Saudi ownership and LGBTQ content
There are also fears that being under the ownership of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman will significantly impact EA’s work culture or the content of its games. Saudi Arabia has a less than progressive stance towards the LGBTQ community, leading to worries that franchises known for depicting LGBTQ characters, like The Sims and Mass Effect, will have those elements toned down or stripped out entirely.
Last year, CEO Andrew Wilson insisted that ‘Our values and our commitment to players and fans around the world remain unchanged.’
