The purchase that shook the gaming world
On September 29, 2025, Electronic Arts (EA) – the third largest American gaming company – announced that it had been acquired for $55 billion by a group led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), a state-owned giant worth over a trillion dollars. With this move Riyadh has sent a clear message: the goal is to dominate the global video game scene.
In addition to PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, a firm Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, making it even easier to navigate the regulatory process. The new owners now control EA's biggest franchises — "The Sims," "Madden" and "FC" (formerly known as "FIFA") — and it's that soccer series that is reportedly the favorite game of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the report says. Economist.
Savvy Games - Saudi gaming empire
This acquisition is just the culmination of something the Saudis have been building for years. Savvy Games Group, a company owned by the PIF, has received as much as $38 billion to build a gaming empire. Their pace of growth is impressive — two years ago they bought American developer Scopely, known for the mobile hit “Monopoly Go!” which has earned more than $5 billion as of 2023.
In May, they also took over the gaming division of Niantic, the creator of "Pokémon Go", while they already have a significant stake in Embracero, the Swedish company that owns titles like "Tomb Raider".
Royal ambitions and global domination
But the Saudis don’t stop there. PIF is already among the largest shareholders in legendary names on the Japanese and American scene: Nintendo, Capcom, Koei, Nexon, NCSoft and Take-Two Interactive — creator of the iconic “Grand Theft Auto.” They also have strong positions in Square Enix (“Final Fantasy”) and Toei Animation (“Dragon Ball Z”). These investments alone, excluding EA, are worth about $11,7 billion.
E-sports as a new entertainment industry
"This is just the beginning," he says. Brian Ward, Canadian industry veteran and CEO of Savvy. His team reviews hundreds of potential acquisitions each year. While other investors are cautious, the Saudis are buying boldly — just as global gaming funding has halved. As New York University professor Jost van Dreunen explains, their strategy is simple: secure market dominance through massive investments.
Ward has a clear mission from Prince Mohammed: “To build a company like Disney—but for games and esports.” Disney has theme parks, Saudis they have live tournaments. 2022. they bought ESL i FACEIT, two leading e-sports tournament organizing firms, for a total of $1,5 billion, and also own 30% of China's Hero Esports, which supports TencentAccording to Savvy, they now control 40% of the global esports market.
Their e-sports sector is not yet profitable, but that is not their main goal. The idea is to create a community of fans — and they are already succeeding in that. Riyadh has hosted the last two years World Esports Cup, where the world's best teams battle it out in games like "League of Legends." The prince himself sometimes plays a game with visiting professionals. This summer, more than 250.000 tickets were sold, while online broadcasts exceeded 750 million views, with as many as half the audience from China. A business conference is also held in parallel, which, according to Western investors, has become the most important event in the industry. Next year, Riyadh is planning a new tournament - the Esports Nations Cup, which will to be held every two years.
From hobby to national strategy
Of course, it's not just a love of games behind it all. Saudi Arabia is trying to shift its economy away from oil to technology and entertainment. Initiative "Vision 2030" predicts the creation of 39.000 jobs in the gaming sector by the end of the decade. Savvy is already training future video game artists at Princess Nourah University, where women study. The government says nearly half of the country's gamers are female, while women make up about a quarter of Savvy's employees — still more than at many Western studios.
About a third of the workers are foreigners, but Ward expects that number to drop as the local workforce strengthens. “More and more people are coming and seeing the country up close,” says Ralf Reichart, organizer of the Esports World Championship. “You can’t please all the critics, but the noise around Saudi Arabia has died down considerably.”
A new image of Saudi Arabia
This effect is part of a broader strategy. Like investments in film, comedy, or Formula 1, investments in games serve to show the world a different image of Saudi Arabia — one that is more modern, open, and technologically advanced.
“There are five to ten thousand years of history in the Middle East, and none of those stories have been told through games,” says Ward. “It’s a huge opportunity.” The Arab world has more than 330 million players — more than Europe or America — and has long been neglected. Ward cites the examples of Japan, China and South Korea, which have managed to turn their own folklore into global hits. The Chinese game “Black MythWukong", based on legends, won the title of Game of the Year on the Steam platform.
Although Ward claims that promoting Saudi culture is not directly his mission, he believes that future games from Saudi Arabia will have global appeal — just as the Asian ones have succeeded.
Can money change the content of games?
But the question that worries many gamers is: Will Saudi ownership change the content of games? Much like Hollywood has begun to shy away from sensitive topics for the Chinese market, it's possible that games will become more cautious. In 1992, EA released "Desert Strike," where the villain was an Arab dictator. In 2005, "Battlefield 2" pitted Americans against a "Middle Eastern coalition." Will such games exist under the new owners? EA CEO Andrew Wilson insists that nothing has changed: "Our priority is still to make bold, expressive games — and our values remain the same."
Side mission
Still, a future update to “Assassin’s Creed” shows how Saudi capital can subtly influence content. In March, fans of the fighting game “Fatal Fury” were stunned when it was announced that the new version would feature Cristiano Ronaldo — who in the game hits opponents with a fireball and is described as an “unstoppable force.”
Behind this unusual collaboration is a familiar name: Ronaldo is the captain of the Al Nassr FC team from Riyadh, majority owned by PIF. And the developer of "Fatal Fury", Japan's SNK, belongs to the MiSK Foundation, a Saudi non-profit organization founded and chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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