Cosplaying Gamers Will Raid EA HQ To Protest Saudi Arabia’s $55 Billion Buyout
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has announced plans to acquire Electronic Arts for $55 billion, making the gaming giant a private company. The deal has sparked organized opposition from the gaming community.
In response, The Players Alliance HQ has organized a protest at EA’s headquarters in Redwood City, California, scheduled for May 11 at 2 PM ET (11 AM PT). The event will feature cosplaying gamers conducting a creative “raid” on the campus, where demonstrators plan to unfurl a 50-foot scroll displaying over 70,000 petition signatures opposing the acquisition. The protest will be live-streamed on Twitch.
Protesters are voicing multiple concerns about the deal’s potential consequences. Key worries include anticipated job losses, the replacement of human developers with artificial intelligence, and aggressive price increases driven by enhanced monetization practices. These concerns reflect broader anxieties within the gaming community about industry consolidation and its impact on game development practices and player experience.
The planned demonstration represents a notable instance of grassroots, organized opposition to a major gaming industry acquisition. The scale of the petition—with over 70,000 signatures—indicates substantial community concern about the proposed ownership change and its implications for Electronic Arts’ future direction and the gaming industry at large.