US publishing giant Electronic Arts could soon be leaving the public markets. 

That's according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, which claims that the Battlefield giant is in discussions with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, as well as Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and private equity giant Silver Lake. EA is valued at around $50 billion, making it the largest leveraged buyout in business history. 

Details of the deal could be announced as early as this week. 

Going private would have some advantages for Electronic Arts. For one, it would be freed from the short-termism that plagues the public markets where companies have to be able to show growth on a quarterly basis; this leaves little room for real risk and long-term plans. This, in theory, would give the company greater freedom, which would be useful at a point in time when high-end triple-A productions often require huge development times and are, at times, rushed out of the door so publishers can show growth to their investors. 

The chief downside in going private, especially with this rogue's gallery of finance guys, is that it includes the Public Investment Fund. This is controlled by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is a controversial figure on the international stage, not least because he allegedly ordered the torture and murder of Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi. There are also the massive human rights abuses that the country is claimed to have perpetrated, too. 

Still, buying Electronic Arts is still a smarter decision than trying to build a 200km long line city in the middle of the desert.