Leisure & Hospitality PIF explores raising stakes in Japanese gaming companies By Pramod Kumar October 6, 2024, 6:09 AM REUTERS/Thomas Peter A figure of Mario, a character in Nintendo's Mario Bros. video games at a Nintendo centre in Tokyo. `the PIF owns 8.58 percent of Nintendo Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is exploring increasing its stakes in Japanese gaming companies to develop the kingdom as a global centre for gaming. “There are always opportunities,” Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud, vice chairman of Savvy Games Group told Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency. PIF now owns 8.6 percent of Nintendo, after initially acquiring a 5 percent stake in May 2022. The sovereign fund also holds around 9 percent of Koei Tecmo Holdings. In 2022, the fund reportedly took more than 5 percent stakes each in South Korea’s Nexon and Japan’s Capcom. Prince Faisal said Savvy Games sees significant potential in collaborating with Japanese companies to localise video games, leveraging their intellectual property. He said the fund is in the process of transferring its shares in Japanese gaming companies to Savvy Games as part of a broader strategic shift. The PIF unit is tasked with developing the gaming and esports industry in Saudi Arabia through strategic investments and acquisitions, such as the recent $5 billion deal for Monopoly Go developer, Scopely. In September, Prince Faisal told AGBI that cost-intensive spectator events are not going to be a “serious profit generator” after the kingdom concluded the first Esports World Cup. ESL Faceit Group, which Savvy acquired for $1.5 billion, is estimated to start breaking even and generating profits within the next two years, according to Prince Faisal.