Savvy Games Group's strategy to become a force in gaming | Interview with Brian Ward

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Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group, has taken the lead in helping Saudi Arabia move beyond its reputation for human rights abuses and being an oil nation to become a visionary, funding technology leader the video game industry.

This tension between the past and the future is pervasive in Saudi Arabia, where companies like Savvy Games Group, owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, are trying to change perceptions through games while remaining conscious of the appetite of the kingdom. for measured change.

Ward believes people need to see the change happening in Saudi society on the ground in order to understand how quickly things can happen under the new regime that primarily supports the video game industry. There is perhaps no other country where the clash between tradition and modernity – something my world history teacher talked about so long ago – is so striking.

Change and chords happened at a dizzying pace. It's like a big game of Monopoly, and the game industry game board is set up globally.

Savvy Games Group acquired Los Angeles-based mobile games publisher Scopely in April for $4.9 billion, buying a stake of a billion dollars in the Swedish game publisher Embracer Group. It also acquired ESL Gaming and FaceIt in esports to create ESL FaceIt Group. And the Saudis have also acquired stakes in Capcom, Nexon and Nintendo this year, building on previously acquired stakes in Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive and Electronic Arts. This caught the attention of the gaming world.

Savvy's largest shareholder, the Public Investment Fund (run by the Saudi government), is flush with cash from the oil boom and has set aside $37.8 billion.