Saudi Arabia has long been known as a wealthy country, thanks to being one of the global leaders in oil extraction and exportation. However, the nation realizes that its natural resource will eventually run out, and that's why it's now seeking to diversify its economy. One way it plans to do that is by becoming the world's gaming capital.
According to a new Bloomberg report, the Saudi Arabian government is betting big on video games. Through its Public Investment Fund, it will invest a whopping $38 billion to have a slice of the global video game market, which is estimated to be worth $184 billion.
Initially, Saudi Arabia focused on the esports market through Savvy Gaming Group, a subsidiary of its investment fund. However, since that industry has faced difficulties, it now intends to shift its focus towards the development and distribution of high-budget video games.
"We're now more of an esports company than a video game one. What we're doing this year is focusing more on game distribution and development," said Brian Ward, director of Savvy Gaming Group.
If you've been following the news, you know that Saudi Arabia has invested in several video game companies in recent years. Thanks to key investments, the country now owns a percentage of companies like Nintendo, Tencent, and Activision Blizzard. They also control SNK, the legendary developer behind series such as Metal Slug and The King of Fighters.
SAUDI ARABIA WANTS MORE GAME DEVELOPERS TO WORK IN THE COUNTRY
Now, the Saudi Arabian government's goal is to leverage these investments to work closely with these companies in game distribution, managing their esports divisions, or "developing new franchises together." That's not all, as they also seek to have different companies move to Saudi Arabia or set up offices in the country.
"Part of our goal is to help our partners and other companies come to Saudi Arabia and choose Riyadh over others to establish a distribution business to serve the region," explained Ward.
As part of its plan, Savvy Gaming Group also founded a development studio, Savvy Games Studios. Currently, this studio has 45 employees who are focused on creating and developing a mobile video game. They plan to create a game for consoles in the future.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is open to the possibility of buying a major video game distributor to fulfill its goal of becoming one of the most important countries in the industry. In fact, Bloomberg reported that the company believes Electronic Arts would be too big for them, even though they have $13 billion ready to invest.
While Saudi Arabia's plans may be ambitious, they will also be controversial. After all, the Middle Eastern country has been widely criticized for its regime accused of committing several human rights violations. In fact, some believe that these types of investments (like others they have made in sports) only aim to clean up their controversial image.
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