SNK Corporation, the developer of games such as Metal Slug and Fatal Fury, is now almost entirely owned by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Foundation (MiSK Foundation); EGDC now owns 96.18% of SNK shares.
In November 2020, MiSK Foundation acquired a 33.3% stake in SNK under the name of a “strategic investment”. At the time, they announced that their goal was to have a majority stake, reaching 51% of the share, but they didn’t stop there.
“The Investment of the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation in The Japanese company SNK has strengthened our commitment to the goal of empowering Saudi men and women by establishing economic partnerships,” the statement said. “This investment decision will also further enhance the powerful capabilities of the SNK, which has a large number of innovative intellectual properties in the gaming industry” continues.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in the gaming industry in recent years. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also bought about 5% of Capcom and Nexon, which had a monetary value of more than $1 billion. PIF also spent $3.3 billion on Activision Blizzard, EA and Take-Two shares in the fourth quarter of 2020.
