UPDATE 8/10/24: After earlier reports that Saudia Arabia’s controversial Savvy Games Group was looking to increase its stake in Japanese game developers, today brings news that the group has actually decreased its ownership of Nintendo shares specifically.
As reported by CNBC (via GamesIndustry.biz), Savvy now controls 7.54 percent of Nintendo, down from 8.58 percent previously.
It’s unclear why Savvy has decided to lower its share holdings slightly. Savvy’s stake in Nintendo has been closely monitored, and the group remains one of the company’s largest shareholders.
UPDATE 7/10/24: Savvy Games Group says its interest is not specific to acquiring a larger stake in Nintendo, but in all Japanese gaming companies.
Furthermore, it wished to stress that Prince Faisal is the vice chair of Savvy Games Group and not an official spokesperson for the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Original story follows.
ORIGINAL STORY 6/10/24: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is considering increasing its 8.58 percent stake in Nintendo.
According to Kyodo news and spotted by VGC, Savvy Games Group’s vice chair confirmed plans to diversify its hitherto oil-dependent economy by strengthening its gaming and entertainment businesses.
The fund – which also has stakes in Capcom, Nexon, Nintendo, Take Two Interactive and Activision Blizzard – is currently transferring its shares in these gaming companies to its Savvy Games Group subsidiary.
It also has an interest in EA and acquired a £840m stake in Embracer Group in 2022, reportedly “walking away” from its $2bn “major strategic partnership” with Embracer earlier this year, sending the latter into a tailspin that led to a spectacular collapse back in May.
Even Hideo Kojima raises eyebrows after meeting Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud last year.
“There are always opportunities,” the vice chair said at Tokyo Game Show, but stressed: “It’s important to keep the communication going so you get there in the right way. We don’t want to rush into anything.”
Saudi Arabia’s PIF is also involved in a number of other entertainment businesses, including sports and films.
The news comes after several key developments for Saudi Arabia and its gaming portfolio, including hosting the next esports Olympic Games and the new Overwatch Champions Series, or OWCS.
The Savvy Gaming Group is a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, an initiative chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The hugely-controversial figure has been blamed by the CIA for the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Meanwhile, his rule of Saudi Arabia has maintained the country’s notoriously poor human rights record, with homosexuality still criminalised and punishments ranging from floggings to the death penalty.