A union representing video game workers across the United States has released a statement on behalf of employees at Electronic Arts (EA) regarding the pending acquisition and privatization of the company. In the statement, the Communication Workers of America (CWA), specifically the United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433, states that they weren’t properly represented during sale negotiations and that there is a worry of company layoffs when it happens.
The group says this $55 billion deal will “further concentrate power and wealth into the hands of a few gatekeepers while doing nothing to address the concerns of players and workers.”
“EA is not a struggling company,” the statement says. “With annual revenues reaching $7.5 billion and $1 billion in profit each year, EA is one of the largest video game developers and publishers in the world. EA’s success has been entirely driven by tens of thousands of EA workers whose creativity, skill, and innovation made EA worth buying in the first place.”
“Yet we, the very people who will be jeopardized as a result of this deal, were not represented at all when this buyout was negotiated or discussed.”
The group says that if any layoffs take place or if studios close, it’s because of a choice to do so and not something done out of necessity. They say that it would be a move done solely to “pad investors’ pockets—not to strengthen the company.”
In addition to the statement, the union has launched a petition for the United States Federal Trade Commission to look more into this deal. They are “calling on regulators and elected officials to scrutinize this deal and ensure that any path forward protects jobs, and preserves creative freedom.”
The announcement of a deal to sell EA to a group that includes the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners came in late September. To fund the sale, EA will be taking on $20 billion in debt, which many worry will lead to the aforementioned layoffs.
“Every time private equity or billionaire investors take a studio private, workers lose visibility, transparency, and power,” they say. “Decisions that shape our jobs, our art, and our futures are made behind closed doors by executives who have never written a line of code, built worlds, or supported live services.”
The statement closes by saying that the “value of video games is in their workers” and that they are “standing together and refusing to let corporate greed decide the future of our industry.”
How do you think the pending sale of EA plays out, and the lack of representation for employees claimed by the video game workers union? Leave your thoughts down in the comments below, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
Editor’s Note: The original version of the article wrongly attributed the statement directly to EA employees. We have since updated the article, and apologize for the misinterpretation.
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