Saudi Arabia plans to increase its stake in Nintendo and is interested in investing in other Japanese gaming companies

Saudi Arabia continues to invest heavily in the gaming industry.

Over the past few years, the Saudis have acquired shares in Take-Two Interactive, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Nexon, Koei Tecmo, Embracer Group - and that's not the whole list! In the winter of 2022, the country acquired two of the biggest organisers of cybersport competitions: ESL and Faceit.

One of the largest investments of Saudi Arabia's sovereign fund (Public Investment Fund) was a substantial amount invested in Nintendo shares.

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The Public Investment Fund (PIF) currently holds an 8.58 per cent stake in Nintendo, with the fund planning to further increase its stake in the Japanese company.

Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud - vice president of Savvy Games Group, a gaming company owned by PIF - told Kyodo News that his organisation is interested in investing further not only in Nintendo, but also in other gaming companies, especially Japanese ones.

He believes this would help "strengthen the country's entertainment business as it transitions from an oil-dependent economy."

With Japanese gaming companies such as Capcom, Nintendo and FromSoftware performing more and more impressively every year and their share prices only rising, Saudi Arabia's investment strategy looks as credible and sound as possible.

Source: Kyodo News