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Savvy Commits Major Investments to Boost Gaming Industry in Saudi Arabia  

Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, President of the Saudi Esports Federation. (SPA) 
Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, President of the Saudi Esports Federation. (SPA) 
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Savvy Commits Major Investments to Boost Gaming Industry in Saudi Arabia  

Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, President of the Saudi Esports Federation. (SPA) 
Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, President of the Saudi Esports Federation. (SPA) 

Saudi Arabia is placing the gaming and esports sector at the heart of its economic transformation, allocating billions of dollars to build the Kingdom into a global hub for creativity and investment in digital entertainment. Backed by a national strategy, the Kingdom aims to position itself as a leader in game development, publishing, and competitive esports.

A clear demonstration of this ambition came with the Esports World Cup, hosted in Riyadh, which drew more than 2,000 players from 200 clubs from over 100 countries. The seven-week tournament concluded on Sunday night with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, awarding Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons as champions of the 2025 edition.

Spanning 25 competitions across 24 different games, the event featured record-breaking prize pools of more than $70 million, redefining the scale of global esports contests and underscoring the Kingdom’s ability to combine innovation and creativity in a rapidly expanding industry.

Speaking at the New Global Sport Conference, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, President of the Saudi Esports Federation, emphasized that “games will always remain at the core of this industry - whether in development, esports, or content creation.”

He noted that gaming revenues in the Middle East and North Africa reached $6 billion in 2024, with Saudi Arabia accounting for more than a third of that figure. The region, he added, encompasses 22 countries and over 250 million gamers.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, awards Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons as champions of the 2025 edition of the Esports World Cup. (SPA)

The role of Savvy

At a press conference in Riyadh, Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group, outlined the company’s pivotal role in attracting international partners.

Global outreach tours led by Prince Faisal, he explained, are part of the national gaming and esports strategy that has no parallel elsewhere in the world.

Savvy has already invested around SAR 50 billion ($13 billion) in game development and publishing, securing high-profile deals with Scopely and Niantic, while also establishing local studios in Riyadh.

Walter Driver, CEO of Scopely, which was acquired by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in July 2023 for $4.9 billion, shared details of the company’s recent performance. In 2024 alone, Scopely recorded over 5 billion hours of gameplay, with half of its active players logging in daily.

He revealed that its titles have been downloaded more than one billion times worldwide, generating cumulative revenues of over $10 billion in 2024.

Since 2019, the company has maintained a compound annual growth rate of 53 percent, far outpacing the global industry average. Flagship titles such as Monopoly Go, Pokémon Go, and Star Trek Fleet Command have each surpassed $5 billion in revenues individually.

Saudi Arabia’s rise in the global gaming and esports arena is part of its broader Vision 2030 to diversify the economy and foster creative industries. By 2030, the sector is expected to contribute more than 50 billion riyals to GDP and create nearly 39,000 new jobs.

The Kingdom also plans to establish 250 new local gaming companies, cementing its role as a key player in an industry now valued at more than $200 billion globally.

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Business

Shehbaz Sharif: We Repaid $3.5 Billion in Debt Thanks to Saudi Arabia’s 'Pivotal' Support

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holding talks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Jeddah on March 12, 2026 (SPA).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holding talks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Jeddah on March 12, 2026 (SPA).
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Shehbaz Sharif: We Repaid $3.5 Billion in Debt Thanks to Saudi Arabia’s 'Pivotal' Support

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holding talks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Jeddah on March 12, 2026 (SPA).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holding talks with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Jeddah on March 12, 2026 (SPA).

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Wednesday that his country had successfully repaid $3.5 billion in mandatory bilateral debt, affirming that this achievement came thanks to the “pivotal” support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He clarified that this repayment did not affect the stability of foreign exchange reserves; rather, it strengthened market confidence in Pakistan’s ability to meet its international obligations.

The Kingdom had announced the provision of substantial financial support to Pakistan, including the extension of the term of a previous $5 billion deposit and the provision of an additional $3 billion deposit, aimed at enhancing economic stability and addressing global changes.

On Friday, the State Bank of Pakistan announced that Islamabad had completed the repayment of $3.45 billion in deposits to the United Arab Emirates, settling a final tranche worth $1 billion. The bank had also announced that it had received the Saudi deposit worth $3 billion.

This came after the United Arab Emirates requested that Pakistan return the funds it had deposited in the State Bank of Pakistan in 2018 to bolster its foreign exchange reserves.

This qualitative support aims to enable the Pakistani economy to confront global economic changes and strengthen its financial resilience, in a way that positively reflects on the living conditions of the Pakistani people. It also reaffirms the Kingdom’s consistent and ongoing position of standing alongside Pakistan under all circumstances, embodying the sincere bonds of brotherhood between the leaderships and the peoples.

In an address before the cabinet, the Pakistani Prime Minister clarified the current financial situation, stating: “We have repaid our mandatory external debts (amounting to approximately $3.5 billion in bilateral loans). Our foreign exchange reserves are stable at their current level, and we have fulfilled our obligations and repaid our debts.”

These developments constitute a key pillar in Pakistan’s relationship with international institutions; the stability of liquid reserves at around $20.6 billion (including $15.1 billion held by the central bank) contributes to strengthening Islamabad’s negotiating position with the International Monetary Fund. Pakistan’s success in repaying its bilateral debts, alongside adherence to the requirements of the Fund’s financing program, is seen as a vote of international confidence in the Pakistani economy’s ability to meet its immediate and future financial commitments.

The central bank indicated that its success in managing the outflows required to repay these billions was achieved without causing any shock to the value of the local currency, as the Pakistani rupee remained stable thanks to supportive deposits and cautious monetary policies.

For his part, Sharif explained that this repayment did not come at the expense of monetary stability; rather, it resulted from a coordinated plan between the Ministry of Finance and the central bank to ensure that foreign exchange reserves remained at safe levels, which strengthens Pakistan’s position in its ongoing negotiations with international financial institutions.

Regarding the role played by the Kingdom in securing this financial passage, the Prime Minister expressed his country’s deep appreciation, saying: “We are extremely grateful to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; they played a pivotal role in this matter. I am confident that these major issues will also be resolved, and Pakistan’s peace efforts continue uninterrupted and without relent.”

Sharif noted that this Saudi support was not merely temporary financial assistance, but rather a reflection of the depth of historical ties, adding: “Just as we have strengthened mutual cooperation by removing obstacles at both the joint and institutional levels, positive results have emerged from this.”

It is worth noting that this new Saudi move is not unprecedented. In 2018, the Kingdom provided a $6 billion support package, which included a $3 billion deposit in the State Bank of Pakistan, in addition to deferred oil payment facilities of the same value.

Business

New Shipping Service Connects Jeddah Islamic Port with China, Malaysia and Egypt

Jeddah Islamic Port (Mawani)
Jeddah Islamic Port (Mawani)
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New Shipping Service Connects Jeddah Islamic Port with China, Malaysia and Egypt

Jeddah Islamic Port (Mawani)
Jeddah Islamic Port (Mawani)

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has announced the addition of China United Lines’ new SGX shipping service to Jeddah Islamic Port, enhancing the Kingdom’s connectivity with global markets, improving supply chain efficiency, and supporting trade flows through the Red Sea- one of the world’s most important maritime routes.

The new shipping service connects Jeddah Islamic Port with the ports of Shanghai and Nansha in China, as well as ports in Malaysia and Egypt, with a capacity of up to 2,452 TEUs.

This initiative forms part of Mawani’s ongoing efforts to improve the Kingdom’s performance in global logistics indicators, strengthen national exports, and support the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy, which aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global logistics hub and a key link between three continents.

Business

Saudi Trade Offices Contribute to Creating 2,221 Export Opportunities, Securing 393 New Investments

King Abdullah Economic City port (Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority)
King Abdullah Economic City port (Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority)
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Saudi Trade Offices Contribute to Creating 2,221 Export Opportunities, Securing 393 New Investments

King Abdullah Economic City port (Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority)
King Abdullah Economic City port (Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority)

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Foreign Trade said Saudi commercial attachés contributed to creating 2.221 export opportunities and secured 393 new investment opportunities, underscoring efforts to expand the Kingdom’s global economic footprint.

The gains came alongside measures to protect domestic industry, including four anti-dumping investigations and five decisions imposing protective duties on imports to ensure fair competition and support Saudi exports abroad.

Established in 2019 as an independent authority, the body is tasked with advancing Saudi trade interests internationally and supporting economic development under Vision 2030.

According to a recent authority report seen by Asharq Al-Awsat, the agency held 25 meetings of its main negotiating team involving Saudi government entities, 75 meetings of related subcommittees and 149 meetings of Gulf technical negotiating teams. It also conducted seven rounds of negotiations between Gulf Cooperation Council states and trade partners.

International Partnerships

The authority carried out 38 overseas visits, participated in or prepared for 39 international forums and conferences, and held 305 technical meetings with domestic and foreign entities.

It launched four anti-dumping investigations into imports, prepared 182 economic reports to support companies and took part in seven international investigations to defend Saudi exports. It also issued five anti-dumping duty decisions covering imports of several products.

The report said the authority continued negotiations with a number of countries to support non-oil exports - goods and services - by securing preferential access to global markets, encouraging and protecting investment, strengthening supply chains and advancing free trade agreements with major economies and blocs.

Diversification Push

The authority said the efforts align with Vision 2030 goals to diversify the economy and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s position in global trade, adding that it was pressing ahead with trade policies aimed at widening the reach of Saudi exports and opening new markets, reinforcing the Kingdom’s ambition to position itself as a global trade hub.

The authority also said it was working with public and private sector partners to develop a more flexible and competitive external trade system while adopting international best practices in trade regulation.

The efforts form part of broader plans to boost the competitiveness of Saudi exports, improve efficiency and build a sustainable, diversified economy in line with the Kingdom’s foreign trade ambitions.