Saudi Arabia Invests Over IDR 42 Trillion in Activision, EA and Take-Two

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has invested more than 3 billion USD or around IDR 42 trillion (assuming 1 USD = IDR 14,000) in shares of leading US video game publishers, namely Activision, Electronic Arts and Take-Two. .

PIF is chaired by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman who has repeatedly expressed his love for games (in particular, Activision’s Call of Duty) and the positive impact they can have on players.

As reported by Al Jazeera, in December, PIF bought nearly 1.4 billion USD worth of Activision shares, EA shares worth about 1.1 billion USD, and Take-Two shares worth 826 million USD. A subsidiary of the crown prince’s flagship charity, the Mohamed bin Salman Foundation (Misk) also acquired a third of the Japanese game company, SNK in November 2021. The plan is to increase the acquisition of shares of developer King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown to 51 percent.

The PIF is a key part of the crown prince’s plan to diversify the Saudi economy to escape its dependence on oil. According to its website, PIF’s vision is to become “a global investment hub and the world’s most influential investors, enabling the creation of new sectors and opportunities that will shape the future global economy, while driving the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia”.

Previously, excess oil revenues were invested by the Saudi central bank, mostly in stable liquid assets such as US Treasury Securities. They missed the opportunity to buy cheap stocks during the 2008 global financial crisis.

Saudi Arabia is poised to capitalize on the slump in the market early last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. PIF received a transfer of USD 40 billion from state reserves in March to fund share-buying activities in large companies such as Citigroup Inc., Facebook Inc. and cruise ship operator Carnival Corp. By the end of June, PIF had sold most of the shares.

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