Why Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Gaming Group is diving into esports and games

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Savvy Gaming Group is on the expansion path. The Saudi Arabian company has made some big moves, acquiring both esports tournament firms ESL and Face It in a $1.5 billion deal in January.

And last week the news broke that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, through a foundation, had acquired 96% ownership in Japanese game developer SNK, the maker of MohFatal Fury, Metal Slug, and The King of Fighters. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which provided the money for Savvy’s deal, also bought stakes above 5% in both Capcom and Nexon, reportedly for more than $1 billion for each stake. And today, Riyadh-based Savvy Gaming Group is announcing the hiring of three key executives to help run Savvy’s ecosystem company, its game studios, and its infrastructure company.

Brian Ward, former head of studios at Activision Blizzard, is leading the Savvy Gaming Group. I caught up with him at the Game Developers Conference for an interview.

“Given how fast the ecosystem is spooling up, I think it will be a multibillion-dollar market by 2030,” he said. “We will have a steady cadence of things to reveal and we will be putting some points on the board. We will be acting consistently with the values and culture of our industry. And we will show people that we’re serious and hopefully going to build something credible, and not just good for Saudi Arabia, but good for the industry.”

Of course, bin Salman has a reputation problem. He was suspected of having ordered the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in a high-profile case that led to high tensions between the U.S. and its ally Saudi