The CEO of Helldivers 2 creator Arrowhead has weighed in on the imminent acquisition of EA by Saudi Arabia and private equity, saying it would be a “real waste” if it just leads to safe sequels and mega-franchises.
In a quote sent via email to Kotaku, Arrowhead Studios CEO Shams Jorjani weighed in on the pending acquisition with the following:
“The industry needs business diversity as much as it needs creative diversity — the more studios and publishers operating at different scales, taking different bets, the healthier games get. EA’s portfolio has always had that range: Battlefield, The Sims, and Mass Effect are some of my favourite blockbusters of the last 15 years, but so are Split Fiction and Unravel, and classics like [Command & Conquer] Generals and SimCity 2000 (yes, 2000) that still hold up. This deal is consolidation, no question — and I wonder whether new ownership optimizes for the safe bet, more sequels, more mega-franchises, over that breadth.
“I’m hopeful this leads to more of that range, not less, but if it turns EA into a sequel-and-mega-franchise machine, that’s a real waste of one of the best catalogues in the industry.”
Jorjani became CEO of Arrowhead in 2024, the same year that Helldivers 2 was released. Previously, Jorjani was at Paradox Interactive for 12 years, ending his time there as chief business development officer and overseeing a massive portfolio of strategy games big and small.
EA is preparing to be taken private in a $55 billion acquisition by a group consisting of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake Partners, and Affinity Partners, which is a private equity firm owned by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The acquisition is expected to finalize tonight, having successfully received all necessary regulatory approvals as of last week.