The Saudi Prince will throw $37 billion into gaming to buy a publisher!
His ambitious plans were revealed
As it seems, beyond Embracer, Microsoft, Sony and Tencent, one more big player is getting ready to throw money…in the sack , for acquisitions in the gaming industry. We are talking about the Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman , who has already made huge investments.
Specifically, through Savvy Gaming, the subsidiary of the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi intends to spend 13 billion dollars to acquire and develop a leading publishing company , “to become a strategic partner”. In total, the investments will exceed 37 billion dollars , since in addition to the purchase of a publisher, another 18 billion dollars will be devoted to smaller acquisitions.
The ultimate goal is to make Saudi Arabia a global gaming hub , with ambitious plans to establish at least 250 gaming companies and create 39,000 related jobs.
Speaking to the domestic media SPA, Prince Mohammed bin Salman said:
Savvy Games Group is part of our ambitious strategy to make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for gaming and esports by 2030.
We are leveraging the untapped potential across the esports and gaming sector to differentiate our economy, drive innovation in the sector and further expand our entertainment and esports event offerings across the Kingdom.
For the record, these new investments will continue the huge streak of the prince, who earlier this year, always through his Public Investment Fund, acquired about 8% of Embracer Group , as well as 5% of Capcom and Nexon, spending totaling more than $1 billion, according to another Bloomberg report .
At the same time, at the beginning of April it had acquired 96% of the historic gaming company SNK , while in December 2020 the fund also acquired shares of Activision Blizzard , Electronic Arts and Take-Two for over $3 billion. Thus, it is expected to benefit quite a lot if the acquisition of the former by Microsoft is completed successfully. Finally, in mid-May the Saudi prince became Nintendo ‘s fifth largest shareholder , raising his percentage to 5%.
It is worth noting that the Public Investment Fund is said to be crucial to Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s goal of making the Saudi economy less dependent on revenues derived from oil exports.
