EA’s Private-Company Reset Targets $700 Million in Yearly Cost Cuts

Electronic Arts is planning roughly $700 million in annual cost cuts following its move into private ownership. EA completed its acquisition by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund on August 4. The consortium also includes Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, while a filing from last year said the PIF owned 93.4% of the group.

Jason Schreier cited Bloomberg for the figure in a Bluesky post. The plan includes $170 million in “organisational efficiencies,” a phrase that has been interpreted as a possible sign of mass layoffs.

Bloomberg: EA plans $700M in annual cost cuts after going private, signaling potential layoffs
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The wording does not confirm that layoffs have begun, and it gives no headcount, studio, office, or schedule for any workforce reductions. The remaining roughly $530 million of the annual target has also not been broken down.

Debt adds pressure to the reset

The buyout was funded largely through borrowing, with EA’s assets and future cash flow used as security for the debt. Schreier also put EA’s total debt at around $18 billion, with roughly $1.8 billion due in interest each year, against estimated EBITDA of about $1.5 billion.

Those figures leave little room to reduce the principal, helping explain the pressure behind a recurring $700 million reduction in annual expenses.

Layoffs remain unconfirmed

“Organisational efficiencies” can cover more than job cuts, so the $170 million figure should not be treated as a layoff total. The clearest takeaway is that EA is pursuing a recurring reduction in expenses after becoming private, while the effect on its teams and games remains unknown.

EA has already cut staff in recent years

EA has made workforce reductions across several studios. In April 2025, EA laid off between 300 and 400 employees, including around 100 people at Respawn Entertainment, and canceled a Titanfall project that was in development. In March 2026, EA confirmed that an undisclosed number of employees had been laid off from studios involved with Battlefield 6. The affected teams included Criterion, DICE, Motive, and Ripple Effect.

Those earlier actions do not identify how the new annual target would be allocated. Any future announcement would need to identify whether the target includes further staff reductions, project changes, office closures, or other operating costs. Until EA provides those details, potential new layoffs remain an inference rather than a confirmed action.

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