The economy of Saudi Arabia may be known for its oil exports, but it is no stranger to the world of gaming.
It already owns shares in giants like EA, Take-Two, and even Nintendo.
It already owns the Savvy Gaming Group, a subsidiary financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund whose goal is to promote the electronic sports industry in the Arabian Peninsula.
Now she wants to take the gaming industry to the next level and integrate into the wider industry.
The government announced that they will invest a huge sum of 38 billion dollars in Sabi to upgrade and move them from the eSports industry so that they can start cooperating with other developers and distributors.
Brian Ward, CEO of Sabi, told the Bloomberg website that the vision is to turn Saudi Arabia into a senior game distributor and developer in the industry.
Sabi started as a small office of 45 employees.
With this new funding, plans to expand become more ambitious.
The initial plan is to develop a successful mobile game and from there a game for consoles.
In Saudi Arabia they are interested in having their own distributor, and they are ready to invest 13 billion dollars in the purchase.
After the separation of FIFA and EA - this could be a very realistic option for both parties. After all, the Saudis love football very much.
Ward responded to accusations that Saudi Arabia is using the gaming industry to improve its image around the world, claiming that Sabi also employs women, And he sees no problem with people from the LGBT community or Jews managing and leading the new studio that will be established.
Start sending resumes.
Saudi Arabia is not the only country that decides to invest in the gaming industry.
French President Emmanuel Macron has already detailed his economic plans and his desire to make France a leading country in the computer game industry.
The Kremlin also discussed the possibility of establishing a local game distributor that would be the "Russian version of EA".
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Saudi Arabia