Mario Bautista
Key Takeaways
- The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia may increase its stake in Nintendo from a reported 8.58 percent it already owns.
- Information about PIF’s investment strategy comes by way of an interview in the Kyoto News.
- Saudi Arabia has quickly increased its video game investments, with money invested in Activision, Take-Two and Koei Tecmo, among others, along with full ownership of SNK.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is mulling whether to increase its stake in Nintendo, as the country seeks to diversify its economy from being so oil-dependent. The country maintains an 8.58 percent share of Nintendo, according to Finance Ministry documents, up from the 5.01 percent that it originally obtained in 2022.
News about Saudi Arabia’s investment strategies comes by way of a report from Kyodo News, where Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud discussed the country’s plans. “There are always opportunities,” he said.
That said, any sort of stake increase won’t come hostily. Per the prince, the PIF will first seek consent from its partners. “It’s important to keep the communication going so you get there in the right way,” he said. “We don’t want to rush into anything.”
Saudi Arabia Has Made Major Investments In Gaming
Beyond its 8.58 percent stake in Nintendo, the PIF also maintains an 8.97 percent stake in Koei Tecmo, according to those same Finance Ministry documents.
Beyond those stakes, Saudi Arabia’s MiSK Foundation owns Japanese video game publisher and developer SNK. Recently, SNK announced that the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves title will have a collaboration with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Currently, Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr FC, a team in Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Pro League, making the partnership less confusing.
Elsewhere, the PIF invested a reported $3 billion in Activision, EA and Take-Two via stock purchases. That was also met by a $1 billion investment in Capcom and Nexon, enough for more than a 5 percent stake. An additional $1 billion stake was put into Embracer Group in 2022.
In other words, this is largely par for the course for the country. The first ever Esports World Cup was also held in Saudi Arabia in early July, making it just another segment of the video game industry that the country has invested in to go along with other such investments in sports and entertainment.
