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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been making some big moves into the gaming space in recent years. Through various public agencies, it’s made big investments in Capcom, Nexon, Nintendo (opens in new tab)<\/span>, ESL Gaming (opens in new tab)<\/span>, SNK (opens in new tab)<\/span>, and Embracer Group (opens in new tab)<\/span>. And it’s not done yet: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who multiple intelligence agencies believe is responsible for the brutal murder and dismemberment of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi (opens in new tab)<\/span> in 2018, has announced plans to invest nearly $38 billion across four separate programs, more than $13 billion of which will go toward acquiring “a leading game publisher.”<\/p>\n

The investments will be made by Savvy Games Group, a fully-owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is chaired by bin Salman, widely considered the architect of the ongoing civil war in Yemen (opens in new tab)<\/span> that has resulted in an estimated 377,000 deaths. Here’s how the investment will be divided:<\/p>\n

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• $18.7 billion<\/strong> for “a series of minority stake investments in key companies that support Savvy\u2019s game development agenda.”<\/li>\n
• $13.3 billion<\/strong> for “the acquisition and development of a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner.”<\/li>\n
• $5.3 billion<\/strong> to invest into “mature industry partners who add value and expertise to Savvy\u2019s portfolio.”<\/li>\n
• $533 million<\/strong> for “diversified investments in industry disruptors to grow early-stage games and esports companies.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n