Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) may seek to increase its already established stake in Japanese studios such as Nintendo and Koei Tecmo and initiate new investments in others.
For Kyodo Newsthe fund's vice president, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud, recently acknowledged the “possibility” of such financing, but only with the permission of his business partners.
“It's important to keep communication going so we get there the right way,” he said. “We don't want to rush anything.”
As of today, PIF has a nearly 8.6% stake in Nintendo (after an initial investment 5 percent in 2022) and almost 9% for Koei Tecmo. Other studios he has invested in include Capcom, Nexon, EA and Take Two.
Kyodo has taken note of Saudi Arabia's initiatives to invest in several non-oil industries. A focus on entertainment activities is reportedly central to the goals of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was previously linked to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also undergone numerous reforms led by the crown prince, including easing restrictions on women's participation in society. But critics argue that these reforms have gone hand in hand with continued abuse of dissidents.
This year, PIF partnered with the game trading website Xsolla create a game developer academy in Saudi Arabia and establish a vertical focused on video games Rolling Stone.
It also has a sizable subsidiary in Savvy Games Group, which acquired the mobile game developer Discoveryfully (From Monopolies, go! fame) last year, and is used to transform Saudi Arabia into a broader development hub 2030.