Edge Middle East: PIF’s strategic investments into the gaming industry

In the media
01 February 2024 Riyadh, KSA
Edge Middle East: PIF’s strategic investments into the gaming industry
  • Saudi Arabia is strategically setting itself up to become a global player in gaming and esports
  • PIF-owned Savvy Games Group plays a key role in growth of the global esports and games sector, writes PIF’s Head of Leisure and Entertainment Section  
  • NEOM, a Fund giga-project, has taken huge strides towards establishing itself as a hub for media and gaming
Saudi Arabia is strategically setting itself up to become a global player in the flourishing $300 billion gaming and esports sector – an industry that offers opportunities far beyond the entertainment industry to cover the latest tourism trends, social innovations and cultural shifts, as well as future-proof skills, wrote Mishary Alibraheem, Head of Leisure and Entertainment Section in MENA Investments at PIF, in an article for Edge Middle East.
 
At the center of this drive is Saudi Arabia’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy, which aims to establish 250 games companies, which will create 39,000 jobs, and raise the sector’s GDP contribution to SAR50 billion by 2030.
 
PIF-owned Savvy Games Group is playing a key role in spurring the long-term growth and development of esports and the wider games industry internationally, with investments that include the acquisition of games publisher and developer Scopely for $4.9 billion, Alibraheem writes.
 
PIF giga-project NEOM has also taken huge strides towards establishing itself as a hub for media and gaming – its joint venture agreement with MBC GROUP will establish one of the region’s first games development studio for high-profile, feature-rich games, a games category known as “AAA” in the sector.

 

Read the full Edge Middle East feature here.

 

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