Saudi Arabia increased its investment in Nintendo to become the largest outside shareholder of the Japanese gaming company. This is the second time that the sovereign wealth fund increased its stake in Nintendo this week, confirming Saudi Arabia’s position as a major investor in the esports and gaming industry.
Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has been heavily investing in gaming through its Savvy Games Group division. This Saudi Arabia state-owned company acquired ESL Gaming and FACEIT last year for nearly $1.5 billion, merging the two esports tournament organizers into a single powerful entity. The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund also owns stakes in major gaming companies such as Capcom, Nexon, Activision, and Embracer. Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Board of Savvy Games Group, stated that the country’s ambition was to “make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030.”
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund became the largest outside investor of Nintendo, owning 8.26% of the popular Japanese gaming company. Through the Savvy Games Group, Saudi Arabia increased its holding of Nintendo shares from 6% in January to over 8% one month later. This investment is part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to invest largely in the gaming market, putting it ahead of Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund but behind Nintendo as the largest shareholder of the company that created iconic franchises such as Mario and The Legend of Zelda.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in gaming companies aim to place the country as a major player in the industry, with a presence ranging from esports tournaments to major game developers and publishers. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in both Capcom and Nexon is said to be valued at over $1 billion, while the Savvy Games Group has a reported budget of $38 billion to invest in various gaming companies across the world.
This investment from Saudi Arabia shouldn’t change the upcoming plans of Nintendo, which announced the first wave of DLC for Splatoon 3 and a plethora of new games during the latest Nintendo Direct presentation. Nintendo has a large range of highly anticipated games coming out this year, from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to Kirby's Return To Dreamland Deluxe and Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp. Despite these upcoming games, fans are still hoping for a Nintendo Switch successor which doesn’t seem to be hitting the shelves anytime soon.
Source: Bloomberg