Last year, Saudi Arabia made headlines in the video game industry by acquiring a 5.01% stake in Nintendo. Earlier this year, they increased that number from 5.01% to 6.07%. Two days ago, that number increased from 6.07% to 7.08%. Today, for the second time this week, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has increased its stake in Nintendo up to 8.26% and has become Nintendo’s largest outside shareholder.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund becomes the largest outside shareholder of Nintendo, underlining its commitment to diversifying a heavily oil-dependent economy https://t.co/yvHFlnXDAd

— Bloomberg (@business) February 17, 2023

Bloomberg reports that the sovereign wealth fund, through its Savvy Games Group division puts Savvy ahead of Japan’s Pension Investment Fund. Savvy is right behind Nintendo, who holds 10.35% shares in itself as of September 2022. Industry consultant Serkan Toto thinks that they aren’t done. “I think PIF is not even done and wouldn’t be surprised if it continues to increase its stake in Nintendo going forward.” Nintendo isn’t the only investment the PIF has made recently. Savvy entered the Chinese gaming market putting a $265 million investment into VSPO, an esports organization. They invested $1 billion into Embracer Group and acquired stakes in EA, Activision Blizzard, and Take-Two Interactive. Axios reports that the stake in EA increased from 5.1% to 5.8%. For Take-Two, the stake was increased from 5.3% to 6.8%.  According to Nasdaq Stock Market data, the fund holds stock worth $2.9 billion in Activision Blizzard, $1.7 billion in EA, and $1.2 billion in Take-Two. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made a focused effort to invest in the video game industry. They have a $38 million budget earmarked for Savvy.

“The Nintendo purchase, as well as investments in game companies around the world, is part of Saudi Arabia’s long-term project to become less reliant on oil,“ said Akira Takatoriya, a consultant who works with Japanese companies exporting pop culture content to the Middle East. PIF is bankrolling the construction of a futuristic city in northwestern Saudi Arabia called Neom. The plan is to market it as the region’s first gaming hub. Documents say there will be a campus to draw businesses, developers and artists to collaborate on games.

Concerns have been raised with the PIF’s continued investments though. This stems from criticism of Saudi Arabia’s government’s position on human rights. In 2018, US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi criticized Saudi Arabia’s government. After entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he went missing. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been accused of ordering Khashoggi’s death.