I have spent hundreds of hours playing The Sims 4, owned by Electronic Arts (EA); 324 hours to be exact. It has been one of my favorite video games for years as it gives me free reign to create any life I want. EA does not always perform to expectations when it comes to game maintenance and extra content, but these issues could get worse with the upcoming sale of the entire company.

EA also owns other popular games such as EA Sports FC, more widely known as FIFA, Madden NFL and Apex Legends. The company is going private and being acquired by an investor group that includes the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Affinity Partners and Silver Lake for $55 billion. Both Affinity Partners and Silver Lake are investment firms, with Affinity Partners being owned by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

This deal leaves EA with $20 billion dollars of debt, which raises concerns about budget cuts. With the company trying to pay off their debt, they may give less funding to game development which may affect game quality. In a game like The Sims 4, with many players already complaining about glitches, this may spell disaster for the beloved game. 

Another issue I have with this deal is censorship. The Sims 4 allows you to make your “Sims” with any skin tone, gender or sexuality. Many other EA games feature people of color and women as well. With a national crackdown on DEI by the Trump administration and lack of women’s and LGBTQ rights in Saudi Arabia, according to Human Rights Watch, it is possible that gamers’ diversity will be affected by this deal. It is unfair to take away this freedom from gamers since it is one of the best parts of The Sims 4.

However, this is speculation currently. The deal is expected to go through during Fiscal year 2027 and EA’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, will stay in his role. But it seems the cons outweighs the pros on this deal. I hope EA puts their loyal players before money and backs out of this deal.