Saudi Arabia’s takeover of the gaming industry was on full display this week at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. The tournament, which sees thousands of players compete in dozens of video games for a share of a $70m prize pot, is the latest of more than 100 major sporting events staged by the Gulf state in the past six years.
The country has committed to spend $38bn across the gaming sector by 2030 through its Public Investment Fund. Via its subsidiary Savvy Games Group, the PIF has taken equity stakes in giants such as Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts. It has also bought up companies wholesale and built local infrastructure. Neom, the futuristic megacity being constructed along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, promises to be a regional gaming hub.
“ Gaming is Saudi Arabia’s bet on a post-oil economy, and a way to grow soft power,” said Joost van Dreunen, an expert on the business of video games. “ This isn’t just about returns – it’s about relevance.”
It’s also about Mohammed bin Salman, a known gamer who reportedly grew up playing Age of Empires. “A lot of things that Saudi Arabia does originate from his interests,” said Bradley Hope, who wrote a book about the crown prince’s rise to power. Gaming plays well in a country where the average age is a little under 27. “The demographic that is really his base are the millennials and gen Z of Saudi Arabia,” Hope said. “He’s always doing things that are like: ‘I got you guys’.”
For the gaming industry, which has struggled with flat growth, studio closures and mass layoffs, the injection of Saudi capital has provided a valuable life raft. The country’s long-term investment strategy aligns well with lengthy waits between major game and console releases.
But the example of esports shows the risk in handing control over to a nation state with a record of human rights abuses. Saudi Arabia hosts major esports events and Savvy Games Group owns 40% of the market. This leaves little room for socially conscious players to vote with their feet or speak out without being airbrushed out of view.
In a recent Amazon Prime documentary about the Esports World Cup, the co-CEO of the Team Liquid franchise talked at length about growing up as a gay man in the US and how he found refuge in gaming. The Saudi version of the film cut the section.
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Photograph courtesy EWC Foundation
