Major Acquisition in Gaming Industry Makes Headlines

Savvy Games, a division of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has made one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the video game industry by purchasing game studio Scopely for $4.9 billion. The acquisition places Scopely as the sixth-largest gaming buyout ever, behind acquisitions by Activision, Microsoft, Tencent, and Take-Two. Savvy Games stated in a press release that the deal, which is pending regulatory approval, will strengthen the company’s ability to deliver new and exciting products for the global gaming community. Scopely is a well-known developer that has worked on popular franchises such as Star Trek, The Walking Dead, and Marvel, as well as the colorful battle royale game Stumble Guys.

Under the deal, Scopely will continue to operate independently under the banner of Savvy and will look to extend its businesses to PC and console, in addition to continued operation in the mobile space. The co-CEOs of Scopely, Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira, will continue to lead the company. Savvy Games CEO Brian Ward, a former Activision Blizzard executive, said his company looks forward to helping Scopely accelerate its ambitions.

Savvy has been making significant investments in the gaming space for some time, with minority ownership positions in Capcom, Nexon, EA, and Take-Two. Savvy also owns 40 million shares of Activision Blizzard and is in line for a huge payday if Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard goes through. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is looking to grow the size of its portfolio to more than $1.07 trillion by the end of 2025 and has been diversifying its portfolio with gaming investments, backing the LIV Golf tournament series, and other efforts to create a new image for itself amid claims of its “addiction” to oil.