Saudi Arabia has reportedly increased its stake in Nintendo for the second time in a month.
As perTrading View, the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund chaired by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, has reportedly increased its stake in theNintendo Switchmaker to 7.08%.
The fund firstacquired a 5.01% stake in Nintendoin May 2022. Justlast month, it increased this stake to 6.07%.
Nintendohas previously claimed that when the PIF bought its initial 5.01% stake in the company, it was unaware of the transaction andfirst learned about the Saudi investment from news reports. It has yet to comment on the latest developments.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and his investment funds have made a series of investments in the video games industry in recent years.
In December 2020, the fundacquired over $3 billion worth of stockinActivision Blizzard,Electronic ArtsandTake-Two.
Last year, through his Electronic Gaming Development Company, the princeacquired 96% of acclaimed Japanese developer SNK, taking over ownership of the Fatal Fury, Metal Slug and King of Fighters studio.
The PIF was also used to invest stakes of more than 5% in bothCapcom and South Korean online games publisher Nexon. These investments totalled over $1 billion.
And last September, the prince announced that the PIF would launch a new Savvy Gaming Group strategy, which would include putting aside 50 billion riyals ($13.3bn) to acquire “a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner”.
The PIF is reportedly central to the crown prince’s goal of making the Saudi economy less reliant on proceeds from oil.
PIF’s continued investments in video game companies may raise concerns for some, given Saudi Arabia’s longstanding history of human rights abuses. The crown prince in particular has been accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
