business news The Savvy Gaming Group, a new competitor for Sony (PS5), Microsoft (Xbox Series) and Nintendo (Switch)?
As we have repeatedly said since the takeover of Bethesda by Microsoft, the video game market is in full consolidation. More and more regularly, we are witnessing major takeovers from well-known manufacturers or influential groups. As Tencent continues to invest in Western publishers and Microsoft tries to finalize the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, “here comes a new challenger” with The Savvy Gaming Group, a structure financed by Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s turn to video games
Remember, last January, The Savvy Gaming Group announced the acquisition of ESL, the famous esports league, and Faceit, the competition platform for online games. These acquisitions had hit the headlines because the acquiring structure is in fact financed by the public investment fund of the Saudi government, and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who chairs the board of directors of Savvy, is accused by two NGOs of having been the accomplice of the disappearance of a journalist. At the head of the group, we find Brian Ward, a former Activision Blizzard.
The Saudi conglomerate showed its voracious appetite for the world of video games as early as 2021. By 2021, the group had taken stakes in Take Two, Activision Blizzard and Electronics Arts for $3 billion. In 2022, he interfered in the capital of Nintendo to the tune of 5% then accelerated the wing by taking stakes in Capcom, Nexon and Embracer Group. The structure also almost devoured SNK in its entirety. Savvy’s screenings are both global and local with studio premieres both in the Middle East and the rest of the world. “We are expected to be more than an active investor”warned Brian Ward at VentureBeat in April 2022.
A major publisher will be acquired
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), The Savvy Gaming Group is set to invest $37.8 billion in the gaming industry to “make saudi arabia” an actor “ultimate” “for the world of video games and esports by 2030” according to the crown prince. The Saudi government’s public investment fund also has investments in Meta, PayPal and Amazon. This impressive sum of almost 40 billion euros will be invested in two ways. 18.6 billion will be dedicated to minority stakes in gaming-related companies. This could make it possible to found 250 gaming companies and create 39,000 jobs, the news agency said. In addition, 13.3 billion will be used to acquire “a leading game publisher” who will become “a strategic development partner”. Who is it ? The bets are off, but the sum advanced excludes from the outset the giants that are Take Two and Electronic Arts.
