For the second time this week, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has increased its stake in Nintendo and has become its largest outside shareholder. The sovereign wealth fund, through its Savvy Games Group division, had originally owned just over 6% of the video game company when the year began, but it now has an 8.26% investment in Nintendo.
According to Bloomberg, this puts Savvy ahead of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund but behind Nintendo, which has a 10.35% holding of shares in itself as of September 2022. “I think PIF is not even done and wouldn’t be surprised if it continues to increase its stake in Nintendo going forward,” industry consultant Serkan Toto said to Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made a concerted effort recently to invest in the video game industry, and with a $38 billion budget earmarked for Savvy, it has been on a major spending spree. Savvy entered the Chinese gaming market this week with a $265 million investment in esports organization VSPO, which is backed by gaming giant Tencent. Beyond these two deals, the PIF recently invested $1 billion into European giant Embracer group and has acquired stakes in EA, Activision-Blizzard, and Take-Two Interactive.
These investments haven’t been without controversy though, as the Saudi government’s position on human rights has often been criticized. The Crown Prince has been accused of ordering the death of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi back in 2018 after the reporter criticized Saudi Arabia’s government–he went missing after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
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