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Saudi Arabia acquires 8.1% of Embracer Group shares for $1 billion

Saudi Arabia has added a large stake in Embracer Group to its video game investments.

Donovan Erskine

June 8, 2022 8:40 AM

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We’ve recently seen Saudi Arabia look to diversify its investments by sinking cash into various companies in the gaming industry. With Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund having already acquired large shares in Nintendo, Capcom, and Nexon, it’s not slowing down any time soon. Saudi Arabia has now purchased 8.1 percent of Embracer Group shares for a whopping total of $1 billion.

It was earlier today that we learned of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquiring an 8.1 percent stake in Embracer Group through a gameindustry.biz report. One of the largest companies in the video game industry, Embracer Group is the parent company of publishers such as Saber Interactive, Koch Media, THQ Nordic, and Gearbox Entertainment. The $1 billion dollar investment matches the same amount that Saudi Arabia’s PIF put into Capcom and Nexon earlier this year.

Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors spoke to the news of Saudi Arabia’s acquisition. "Over the past few years, Saudi-based entities have become one of the most significant investors in the global gaming market, and the games market in MENA is one of the world's fastest growing, with $5.7B in 2021 revenues and more active gamers than either the US or Western Europe."

Saudi Arabia has been sure to diversify its investments throughout the gaming industry. It was just last month that the country’s PIF acquired a 5 percent stake in Nintendo. Last year, it acquired a majority stake in SNK.

It will be interesting to see if Saudi Arabia’s investment into Embracer Group has any visible impact on the company’s business in the future. It’s also likely that the Saudi Arabia PIF isn’t quite finished planting its flag in the video game industry. Stick around for more news on the business side of the gaming world.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_