Saudi PIF-funding Savvy Games Group to make another 'major investment or acquisition'

Saudi-funded Savvy Games Group plans to make another major buyout or stake acquisition through 2024, but who will it be?

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Through the Savvy Games Group, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has spent billions of dollars on strategic video games company buyouts and stake purchases. We've seen Savvy buy Scopely for $4.9 billion, which turned out to be an excellent investment--Scopely made the mega-successful Monopoly Go mobile game, which managed to generate over $3 billion in little over a year.

Now Savvy plans to make even more major investments throughout 2024. "On the game development and publishing side, we expect to be able to announce another major investment or acquisition, hopefully in a top team or publisher that can bring another great game to our portfolio," Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward told publication Arab News.

There's no official details on where or whom Savvy will buy or invest in next. The Saudi-funded company was expected to make a substantial $2 billion partnership with The Embracer Group, but the deal fell apart, leading to heavy culling and layoffs at Embracer. This was supposed to be after the PIF had previously invested $1 billion into the company. As a result of this failed deal, Embracer has laid off 4,857 workers, cancelled 74 games, and closed 36 studios in the last year.

In 2022, it was reported that the Saudi Arabian PIF sought to purchase a major games developer for $13 billion.

Savvy's investments will be based around four key pillars:

1. enhancing returns
2. local impact
3. leaving a global footprint and expanding, leading to international games investing
4. generating sustainable returns and enabling creators across the entire value chain