Some of the biggest publishers in the world, such as EA and Activision, just unexpectedly got substantial investments. Saudi Arabia has invested $4 billion across three major gaming giants via its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, giving the country a substantial stake in the gaming industry.
This all comes as all three gaming companies, Take-Two, EA, and Activision, are thriving at an extremely high level. Activision's stock price hit its highest point since 1984, just a few years after it had been founded. The company also had an incredible 2020 despite the pandemic. Not only did Activision see the release of one of the best-selling Call of Duty titles with Black Ops Cold War but Modern Warfare was incredibly well-supported with new content, the addition of the successful Warzone, and more. To top it all off, the franchise's mobile counterpart, Call of Duty Mobile, also brought in huge sums of cash for the publisher, allowing for a tremendous period of revenue while everyone was stuck at home.
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman invested $4 billion into Activision, EA, and Take-Two Interactive (parent company of Rockstar Games), according to Al Jazeera (via Kotaku). The investments result in millions of shares and small fractions of ownership across the industry. The investment also appears to be part of MBS' MiSK Foundation which is a non-profit meant to help build out companies and communities to help empower creativity in young creatives. The crown prince has also made similar sizable investments in various other entertainment industries such as traditional sports and esports.
The controversial crown prince also made a sizable investment in Japanese gaming company SNK, hoping to gain majority control at a later date. It's unclear if any efforts are being made to do anything similar with these other companies. The foundation run by the crown prince has been criticized for its attempts to help Saudi Arabia's efforts in painting itself as a progressive country while not actually taking the steps to earn that title. Mohammed bin Salman has criticized for his leadership in connection to Saudi Arabia's alleged human rights violations, including its involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Regardless of what the crown prince's plans actually are, it's bound to make lots of money. EA, Activision, and Take-Two all have well-monetized franchises with Battlefield, NBA 2K, GTA, and Call of Duty. Rockstar is expected to start detailing a new Grand Theft Auto game somewhat in the near future, likely with a release in the next couple of years. If history is anything to go buy, it will rake in billions of dollars for Rockstar alone. Lump in new entries in Call of Duty, Battlefield, Star Wars, and more, and the Saudi crown prince's investment is sure to bring in lots of money.
Source: Al Jazeera (via Kotaku)