Square Enix recently sold off most of its western studios and two of its most important IPs to Embracer Group. This propels the net worth of the publishing house higher than its already renowned position in the gaming market, thereby drawing new investors into the company. Following this theory, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has bought a $1 billion stake in Embracer Group. This investment accounts for 8.1% of Embracer Group’s shares.
Once the deal is complete, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and its subsidiary, Savvy Gaming Group, will become the second-largest investor in Embracer Group shares. PIF is chaired by the country’s crown prince himself. The board’s current goal is to make Saudi Arabia less dependent on oil, a resource that may deplete or run out of fashion very soon.
The Embracer Group investment is one of the many that Savvy Gaming Group has recently invested in. However, this investment is historically the largest money someone has poured into a gaming company. This may have negative implications as well provided the reputation Saudi Arabia has made for itself in human rights management. The crown prince himself curbs the media. He had ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Embracer Group seems to reaffirm its faith in Saudi Arabian groups and investments. Their founder and CEO Lars Wingefors commented, “
Savvy Gaming Group’s investment of $1 billion enables us to continue executing our strategy proactively from a position of strength across the global gaming industry.
“Over the past few years, Saudi-based entities have become one of the most significant investors in the global gaming market, and the games market in MENA is one of the world’s fastest-growing, with $5.7 billion in 2021 revenues and more active gamers than either the US or Western Europe.”
“Our relationship with Savvy Gaming Group will enable us to set up a regional hub in Saudi Arabia, from which we will be able to make investments across the MENA region, either organically, via partnerships, joint ventures, or via acquisitions of companies led by strong entrepreneurs.”
Saudi Arabia has been looking forward to establishing its content industry, and the investments are a way for it to learn from the already established developers and publishers in the industry. They recently acquired 96% of SNK, a renowned Japanese video games developer. This deal gave them ownership of the Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, and King of Fighters IPs.