A new report from Bloomberg has revealed Saudi Arabia's plan to become a hub for the video game industry. They're reportedly investing $38 billion into the project.
You might remember Gamers8 from last summer. It was a record-breaking event in Riyadh, in which six different Esports tournaments were hosted over a number of weekends. The prize pool was insane, and the event is set to take place again this summer.
But whereas Gamers8 was focused on bringing esports to the country, these newly revealed plans suggest something far grander for gaming in Saudi Arabia.
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$38 Billion Set Aside To Develop Video Game Industry In Riyadh
The Saudi PIF reportedly want to make Riyadh a capital for video games, as part of their wider strategy to diverse the economy away from oil. This news comes from Bloomberg, who claim that a whopping $38 billion has been set aside for the project.
As Cecilia D'Anastasio writes:
After focusing initially on the esports industry, which has been struggling, the fund's subsidiary, Savvy Gaming Group, is now looking to develop, publish and acquire top-tier games and support a gaming industry in Riyadh.Savvy has about $13 billion to invest in acquiring a game publisher.
If you're curious about how big a gaming company you can buy for about $13 billion, Take-Two had to spend $12.7 billion to get Zynga (the second most expensive acquisition in video game history).
We don't yet know about any of the publishers being targeted, but we have a few ideas...