Nintendo is the latest target of Saudi Arabia’s gaming investment

polygon.com:

Saudi Arabia now owns 5.01% of Nintendo, making it the Kyoto company’s fifth-largest shareholder, according to a Bloomberg report. The Financial Times calculates the Saudi investment to be worth $2.98 billion.

The purchase was made by the Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund that makes investments on behalf of the kingdom. The PIF is controlled by Saudi Arabia’s controversial crown prince and effective ruler, Mohammed bin Salman.

A Nintendo spokesperson told Bloomberg that it had learned about the investment from news reports and would not comment further.

This is just the latest, most high-profile, and largest in a series of investments made by Saudi Arabia’s PIF in the video game industry, which has had a particular focus on Japanese firms (due in part to the weak yen). Earlier this year, it acquired 5% stakes in Capcom and Nexon (which is South Korean, but trades on the Tokyo stock exchange). In late 2020, the PIF made a $3 billion investment in smaller stakes in American games publishing giants EA, Activision Blizzard, and Take-Two. A subsidiary of the crown prince’s foundation also owns almost all of Metal Slug and The King of Fighters developer SNK.

So what’s going on, and why does it matter?

PIF exists to increase the wealth of the Saudi regime, and to help insulate the Saudi economy as the world transitions away from oil as an energy source. Oil and gas account for 70% of Saudi Arabia’s exports and half its gross domestic product, according to OPEC.

Video games are a prominent area of investment for PIF, although far from the only one. One of its largest investments is a $3.5 billion, 5% stake in Uber. It owns smaller stakes in Disney, Facebook, and Boeing. In 2021, PIF led a consortium that purchased