As the world slowly seems to be moving toward electric cars, the rich oil producing nation Saudi Arabia keeps getting more invested in tech and video games to avoid putting all eggs in one basket.
This year, they have bought 5% stakes in Capcom and Nintendo to name a few, and they also own a lot in companies like Electronic Arts, Embracer and Take-Two. And now it seems like they will invest even more. No less that $37.8 billion has been earmarked for acquisitions in the video game industry, and $13.3 billion of those are intended for "a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner".
That kind of money roughly equates the market value of companies like Bandai Namco, Embracer, Nexon, Ubisoft and Zynga, but it is far from Electronic Arts or Take-Two. While we don't know which company the Saudi Arabian wealth fund Savvy Games Group are looking into, we probably won't have to wait very long for more information as they have now officially revealed this.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is personally involved in Savvy Games Group says:
"Savvy Games Group is one part of our ambitious strategy aiming to make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030. We are harnessing the untapped potential across the esports and games sector to diversify our economy, drive innovation in the sector and further scale the entertainment and esports competition offerings across the Kingdom."
This isn't without concern, as Mohammed bin Salman is considered a controversial figure accused of being involved with crimes like murder (journalist Jamal Khashoggi) and also other human rights issues as females still have a lot of religious motivated restrictions and homosexual citizens facing severe repression with torture and even risk of capital punishment.
Thanks VGC