Saudi PIF moving $12bn of games firm shares to subsidiary Savvy
It will ultimately own the fund’s stakes in companies such as Nintendo, Take-Two and Square Enix
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund is moving billions of dollars of stock in game companies to its own Savvy Games Group.
Bloomberg reports that around $12 billion in shares are being transferred from the PIF to its games-focused subsidiary.
When this is completed, Savvy will own around 10% in companies such as Koei Tecmo, NCSoft, Nexon and Square Enix. This transfer also reportedly includes the PIF’s holdings in Nintendo and Bandai Namco. The fund has already moved 11 million shares in Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two, according to a regulatory filing in December 2025.
Savvy is reportedly going to continue the PIF’s hands-off approach to its companies.
That the PIF planned to move its games holdings to Savvy Games Group has been in the pipeline for some time; back in September 2024, a rep for the company told Japanese paper Nikkei that it intended to do this and that it could happen as early as 2025.
“These transfers will move the stewardship of PIF’s games investments to Savvy, given Savvy is a leading games organisation for the PIF and a core component of the National Gaming and Esports Strategy,” Savvy spokesperson Amar Batkhuu said.
Savvy Games Group was set up in November 2021 by the Public Investment Fund as part of Saudi Arabia’s “economic diversification and social transformation,” according to CEO Brian Ward.
The company has been building up a substantial portfolio of companies; it acquired a $1 billion stake in Sweden’s Embracer Group, bought Monopoly Go maker Scopely for $.49 billion and has snapped up esports firms ESL Gaming and FaceIt.
Savvy is reported to be the strategic partner that was set to invest $2 billion in Embracer Group but pulled out at the 11th hour. This resulted in the Swedish company laying off thousands of staff, closing studios and cancelling projects in a restructuring effort. Embracer has since split into three distinct companies.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF is the biggest investor in the deal to acquire Electronic Arts for $55 billion. If the deal goes through, the fund will own more than 93.4% of the games firm.
Scopely’s Monopoly Go recently surpassed $6 billion in revenue; it is the fastest mobile game to ever reach this milestone.
