Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF), a government-run sovereign wealth fund, has reportedly acquired a 5.01% stake in multi-national gaming company, Nintendo.
According to a filing at Japan’s Finance Ministry, the fund, worth $500 billion, bought the stake for investment purposes, and is the reason given for other investments.
Nintendo marks the third Japanese games company to be invested in by the PIF, with Capcom Co., the developer of the Street Fighter and Resident Evil Series, and online games provider, Nexon Co., being the investments prior.
Commenting on Saudi Arabia’s investments, Toyo Securities senior analyst, Hideki Yasuda, told Bloomberg: “Saudi Arabia has been beefing up efforts to create its own content industry, and this series of investments in Japanese game companies is likely a way for them to learn from Japan.”
In recent months, Saudi Arabia and the PIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have been investing heavily in the sports and esports worlds.
Along with Savvy Gaming Group, an organisation owned by the fund, they’ve purchased tournament organiser, ESL Gaming, gaming festival brand, DreamHack, and esports platform, FACEIT, to create the ESL FACEIT Group.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia has acquired a stake in Activision Blizzard, as part of the Microsoft buyout, games publisher, Electronic Arts, and developer Take-Two.
The latest investment suggests there’s more to come, as Saudi Arabia’s initiative, ‘Ignite’, seeks to create a leading digital entertainment hub, to create and develop games through a big budget studio in Neom, with titles being distributed globally.
