The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has planned to invest $40 billion in a new conglomerate which seeks to make the kingdom one of the largest players in the $180 billion video game industry by 2030.
In February Saudi became one of gaming company Nintendo’s largest investors, and earlier this year hosted a gaming tournament with a $45 million prize pool.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is reportedly a devoted video gamer himself. The investment in the video game industry is part of his plan to move Saudi away from its over-reliance on oil.
Some in the gaming community fear that as the Saudi government grows more influential in the gaming space, it will begin to make political demands of major players in the games industry, as has already happened with growing Chinese influence in the world of video games. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitzchung_controversy