Saudi Arabia is actively expanding into the gaming industry. The Financial Times newspaper estimated that over the past 18 months, the Savvy Games Group and the Public Investment Fund, controlled by the authorities, have invested $8 billion in gaming companies.

Sandsoft Games, a mobile publisher headquartered in Saudi Arabia, has announced global ambitions. He expects that in five years he will be able to compete with Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Tencent and NetEase.

Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (PIF), has announced a new deal. She has agreed to buy the mobile publisher Scopely for $4.9 billion.

The Saudi government wants to turn the country into a “world entertainment center” by 2030. It intends to invest $38 billion in the development of the local gaming industry through the Public Investment Fund and its subsidiary Savvy Gaming Group.

For the second time this week, it becomes known that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) from Saudi Arabia is increasing its stake in Nintendo. Now he owns 8.3% of the Japanese company.

The Saudi authorities continue to pay great attention to the gaming industry. Axios portal noticed that the country’s state funds invested money in three more companies.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), controlled by the Saudi authorities, continues to invest in Nintendo. According to the Trading View portal, the fund increased its stake in the Japanese publisher to 7.08%.

Analysts from Niko Partners predict rapid growth in the gaming market of the MENA-3 region (Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt). It is estimated that in five years its revenue will increase by 56% at once.

Sources of The Telegraph report that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) from Saudi Arabia has acquired more than 50% of the shares of the creator of the Magic Leap AR headsets.

Last week, the media reported that the authorities of Saudi Arabia and Finland agreed to develop trade and business relations between the countries. The deal concerns a variety of industries, including healthcare, mining and energy, but it is believed that it also applies to games.

Since April, 96.18% of the shares in SNK belong to EGDC, which is controlled by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The other day, producer Yasuyuki Oda assured VGC that the Japanese studio has retained full creative independence.

The analytical company Newzoo has published an analysis of the mobile market of Saudi Arabia. It contains the gaming demographics of the country, the payment habits of local gamers and the most popular genres.

Saudi authorities are paying more and more attention to video games. In the fourth quarter, the state-owned Public Investment Fund invested over $3.3 billion in the gaming industry. However, only three companies got the money.

Newzoo analysts have found out that Saudi Arabia is very fond of video games. More than three-quarters of the country’s online population consider themselves gamers. At the same time, the lion’s share of players chooses mobile.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia may soon become the largest shareholder of the Japanese studio SNK — developers of the Metal Slug series. He is suspected of involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Mobile market analysts from AdColony and On Device Research conducted a sociological study on players in major Middle Eastern countries. As it turned out, gamers in Saudi Arabia spend less time on games on average than residents of Egypt and the UAE, but they are more willing to make in-app purchases.