TORONTO \u2014 A Canadian union is asking the federal government and competition watchdog to scrutinize a takeover of one of the world\u2019s biggest video game makers by Saudi Arabia\u2019s sovereign wealth fund and a private equity firm owned by U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law.<\/p>\n
The Communications Workers of America Canada says it\u2019s concerned national security and jobs will be at risk if the consortium of buyers including the Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner\u2019s Affinity Partners and fellow private equity firm Silver Lake are allowed to buy Electronic Arts Inc. <\/p>\n
The American company has had a footprint in Canada since at least 1991, when it swallowed Distinctive Software, a Burnaby, B.C.-based video game developer. EA now boasts five offices in the country that have contributed significantly to the company\u2019s hit soccer and hockey games and Canada\u2019s broader $5.1 billion video game industry.<\/p>\n
CWA Canada says EA\u2019s sale threatens that all and couldn\u2019t come at a worse time. EA rival Ubisoft recently laid off employees in Canada and competitor Activision Blizzard was gobbled up by Microsoft, putting everyone left in the sector on edge. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur concern is for the industry, because what happens here is going to affect everybody in that industry,\u201d said CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth.<\/p>\n
She represents hundreds of video game industry workers in Canada, though none are employed by EA, and said the CWA\u2019s U.S. arm supports thousands.<\/p>\n
If the EA deal moves forward, she worries competition across the broader industry will be stifled, potentially causing job losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way that … people who work in the industry won\u2019t be affected over the long term when a company this size will come in, crush the competition and redesign the industry,\u201d Smyth said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what people fear is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
EA, which is one of the most prominent video game makers in the world with about US$7.5 billion in revenue last year and a portfolio including \u201cEA Sports FC,\u201d \u201cMadden NFL,\u201d and \u201cThe Sims,\u201d did not respond to a request for comment about CWA Canada\u2019s concerns. <\/p>\n
An FAQ the company circulated to staff last year answered a question about whether its sale would lead to layoffs by saying, \u201cthere will be no immediate changes to your job, team, or daily work, as a result of this transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Saudi sovereign fund, which already has a minority investment in EA and its rival Nintendo, did not reply to a request for comment. Neither did Affinity nor Silver Lake. <\/p>\n
When the consortium announced the US$55 billion deal last September, it said the transaction already had approval from EA\u2019s board of directors but still need assent from shareholders and regulators. It isn\u2019t expected to close until the first quarter of EA\u2019s fiscal 2027, which wraps at the end of June.<\/p>\n
Concerned about what the transaction will mean for North America, CWA Canada decided to use the window before the deal is expected to close to take action. (CWA Canada is also the parent union of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents some workers at The Canadian Press.)<\/p>\n
The union wrote to Industry Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly on Tuesday and the Competition Bureau in December, asking for the transaction to be reviewed under the Investment Canada Act and Competition Act.<\/p>\n
The Investment Act regulates foreign investments in Canada and allows the government to review transactions to ensure they do not harm national security.<\/p>\n
The Competition Act gives the Competition Bureau the power to investigate mergers and other business conduct to ensure companies do not impede innovation or the consumer benefits competition brings.<\/p>\n
The note to Joly raises concerns that the deal could undermine Canada\u2019s economic security by closely integrating EA with a foreign state that would be handed sensitive personal information on millions of Canadians that it could exploit.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinancial information, health information, all kinds of data is collected and can be shared and used without game users\u2019 knowledge or permission or consent,\u201d Smyth said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re equally concerned because it\u2019s Saudi Arabia,\u201d she said, noting the country does not necessarily have \u201cthe kind of regulation, accountability and transparency that we might expect in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheyenne Daly, a spokesperson for Joly, said the government cannot comment on the matter \u201cdue to the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Competition Bureau also did not reply about the note it was sent, which warned the acquisition of EA could result in the company expanding in Saudi Arabia and contracting in Canada.<\/p>\n
Smyth told the bureau she is particularly worried about Canadian jobs because the sale is being financed with US$20 billion in debt and analysts have suggested layoffs \u201care one of the key ways the company will seek to cut costs in order to service its massive debt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure to make that money back … means they\u2019re going to have to gut studios. They\u2019re going to have to buy up the competition, merge, lay off, make the cheapest possible product,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the days of creative people dreaming up the best game they could imagine and taking years to make it happen, that\u2019s all gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 A Canadian union is asking the federal government and competition watchdog to scrutinize a takeover of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[525,17,16066,6885,235,3952,603,226,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-36968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-consumer-tech","11":"tag-defence","12":"tag-economy","13":"tag-justice","14":"tag-labour","15":"tag-lifestyle","16":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}