Saudi Arabia Says it Will Invest $38 Billion in the Global Gaming Industry

Savvy Gaming Group, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), will lead the financing and expand into areas such as game development and publishing

Saudi Arabia has announced that it will now be investing over $38 billion in the global gaming industry in a move aimed to diversify its economy and decrease its dependence on the oil industry.

The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund, is given the orders to distribute these $38 billion into the global gaming industry, which is currently worth around $184 billion.

Just like the previous Saudi gaming industry investments, the Savvy Gaming Group, a subsidiary of PIF, is responsible for leading the financing for this investment. Throughout the previous investments, Savvy has kept its focus limited and only invested towards esports, however now it will expand and go into areas such as game development and publishing.

‘Brian Ward’, the CEO of Savvy Gaming Group, in an earlier interview said that they are an eSports firm, however now they will expand into areas as well.

With investment and attention towards esports increasing, the number of gamers in Saudi Arabia are also increasing. According to analysts, Saudi Arabia has around 21 million gamers, which stands to be around 58% of its total population.

This high concentration only comes second to the USA, which has an astonishing 214 million gamers.

While Saudi Arabia has not had any significant involvement in the gaming industry, the future surely looks bright for them.

Saudi Arabia through its previous investments has made a good mark in the gaming industry, where the PIF has acquired massive shares in premium gaming companies such as Nintendo, Tencent Holdings, and Activision Blizzard.

Moving forward with the new investments, Saudi Arabia wishes to buy out more studios and publishers, thus achieving its goal to become the global hub for esports and gaming.

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