Saudi Arabia looks to acquire a large stake in Japanese developers

Update – Monday 7 October: Savvy Games Group said its interest is not specific to acquiring a larger stake in Nintendo, but in all Japanese gaming companies.

Further, it wanted to emphasize that Prince Faisal is the vice chairman of Savvy Games Group and not the official spokesperson of the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Main story follows.

Original story, October 6: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is considering increasing its 8.58 percent stake in Nintendo.

According to Kyodo News and seen by VGC, Savvy Games Group's vice chair has confirmed plans to diversify the hitherto oil-dependent economy by strengthening its gaming and entertainment business.

The fund – which also has stakes in Capcom, Nexon, Nintendo, Take Two Interactive and Activision Blizzard – is currently transferring shares of these gaming companies to its Savvy Games Group subsidiary.

It also has an interest in EA and will acquire an £840m stake in Embracer Group in 2022, “walking away” from its $2bn “major strategic partnership” with Embracer earlier this year and sending the latter into a tailspin in a spectacular direction. May takes the fall back.

Even Hideo Kojima raised eyebrows after meeting Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud last year.

“There are always opportunities,” said the vice chair at the Tokyo Game Show, but stressed: “It's important to keep communicating so you can get there properly. We don't want to rush anything.”

Saudi Arabia's PIF is also involved in other entertainment businesses, including sports and movies.

The news comes after several key developments for Saudi Arabia and its gaming portfolio, including hosting the next esports Olympic Games and the new Overwatch Champions Series, or OWCS.

Savvy Gaming Group is a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, an initiative led by Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The highly-controversial figure has been blamed by the CIA for the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Meanwhile, his regime in Saudi Arabia maintains the country's notoriously poor human rights record, where homosexuality is still criminal and punishable by flogging. death sentence