Electronic Arts Buyout Poses National Security Risk, CWA Canada Warns

OTTAWA (May 6, 2026) – CWA Canada is urging the federal government to review the sale of video-game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), warning the deal could hurt Canada’s video game industry and threaten national security.

A group of investors, including the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and Affinity Partners, owned by Jared Kushner, is attempting the largest leveraged buyout in history. The agreement would take EA private for $55 billion – and saddle the company with $20 billion in new debt. 

EA is one of the largest independent video game publishers, and one of the largest employers in Canada’s video game industry, concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario. 

In a May 5 letter to Industry Minister Melanie Joly, CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth called on the government to review the national security implications of the proposed acquisition under the Investment Canada Act (ICA).

“We are deeply concerned that a foreign sovereign wealth fund tasked with implementing the Saudi Arabian government’s strategy to ‘become the global hub for gaming and esports’ plans to acquire one of the most successful North American video game publishers, with extensive operations in Canada, reaching hundreds of millions of players globally,” Smyth wrote.

The union is concerned that the proposed acquisition could lead to:

1. Pressure on EA to expand in Saudi Arabia and shrink its role in the Canadian video game industry, in line with the Saudi government’s “Vision 2030: National Gaming and E-Sports Strategy.”
2. Massive layoffs, wage suppression, and worsening working conditions across the industry.
3. Foreign government access to Canadians’ sensitive personal consumer data – and no accountability or transparency about how this data is used. 
4. Security risks related to EA’s AI research and technology in the hands of foreign governments.

Here is a link to the full letter to Minister Joly: https://cwacanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ea_ica_national-security-letter-for-minister-jolie.docx

Last December, Smyth and Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America, sent a letter to Competition Bureau Canada calling for a comprehensive review of the unprecedented deal’s implications for Canadian workers and consumers. The letter to the competition bureau can be found here. 

EA employs more than 15,000 workers globally, including nearly 5,000 in the U.S. and Canada. It has already cut an estimated 1,700 U.S. jobs since 2023, adding to a record-breaking wave of mass layoffs across the video game industry.

In October, United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433 (UVW-CWA), an industry-wide union for video game workers in the U.S. and Canada, released a statement raising serious concerns about the proposed deal. 

Workers launched a petition that has garnered support from the entire gaming community, with over 9,500 signatures from video game workers, EA employees, and fans of the Electronic Arts’ broad slate of games.

CWA Canada represents about 6,000 workers at the CBC, The Canadian Press, and newspapers and other companies coast to coast, including in the video game industry.

CWA represents over 600,000 members across North America, including 6,000 video game workers, making it the largest union of video game workers in North America.

For more information, contact CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth: csmyth@cwacanada.ca