Saudi Arabia’s influence in global video game market grows
Kingdom’s recent purchase of Sims, Battlefield, FC-maker Electronic Arts shows its commitment to grabbing much larger share from global gaming industry, in line with crown prince’s vision
ISTANBUL
The influence of Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, is growing in the global video game market, which is expected to reach $600 billion in the next five years.
The market reached around $300 billion in 2024 and $337 billion in 2025 so far, according to data from Grand View Horizon.
Saudi Arabia has been making major investments in large video game companies through its sovereign wealth fund, PIF, and ventures directly linked to the crown prince.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the National Gaming and Esports Strategy (NGES) in 2022 to place special emphasis on the gaming sector as one of the key items in the country’s Vision 2030 economic diversification plan.
One of the country’s biggest investments was Electronics Arts (EA).
Saudi Arabia acquired the Sims, Battlefield, and FC developer and publisher EA for $55 billion through a consortium. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund was its largest investor.
The purchase went down in history as the largest sale after Microsoft’s acquisition of World of Warcraft and Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
Saudi Arabia previously made moves to boost its presence in the global gaming scene. Savvy Games Group, established under PIF in 2022, made significant ventures, especially in e-sports.
Savvy Games Group acquired Los Angeles-based Scopely for $4.9 billion after its major purchase of two major players in e-sports organization, ESL and FaceIt, for $1.5 billion.
The gaming festival Gamers8 kicked off in Riyadh in 2022 and placed Saudi Arabia on the international e-sports calendar. The eight-week event in 2023 offered a total prize pool of $45 million, making e-sports history.
Saudi Arabia’s moves in acquiring a larger share in the global gaming industry was aimed at the country’s young population, as research showed that a very high percentage of people in Saudi, between 67% and 89%, regularly play video games, while a well above average rate of 48% of Saudi women identify as gamers, according to an article by the law firm, Bird & Bird.
