“They Might Ruin Nintendo” – Fans Unimpressed With Saudi Arabia’s Growing Influence Making a Mark on the Japanese Giant

Nintendo is performing pretty great right now with all of its 2022 releases turning out to be massive blockbuster hits. Titles like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Kirby, and the Forgotten Land, and recently Switch Sports have all succeeded in swaying the fans.

However, Nintendo just surprised everyone by revealing that Saudi Arabia now owns a stake in the Japanese gaming company.

Saudi Arabia’s stake in Nintendo

As reported by VGC, Saudi Arabia has recently bought a 5.01 percent stake in Nintendo as noticed from a filing to Japan’s Financial Ministry.

Going into detail, then it’s Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that made the purchase for the purpose of investment. The PIF is a sovereign wealth fund chaired by the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

With this acquisition, the country has become the fifth-largest shareholder of Nintendo.

However, it’s not the only gaming-related acquisition made by the crown prince and his fund. Last month, he acquired a 96 percent stake in the acclaimed Japanese developer SNK. It was done through his Electronic Gaming Development Company. The SNK purchase gave him the control over the Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, and King of Fighters studios.

Moreover, the prince also made purchases at the beginning of this year as well. The country’s PIF was used to take a 5 percent stake in Resident Evil developer and publisher Capcom as well as South Korean publisher Nexon.

Before these acquisitions, Saudi Arabia had also acquired $3 billion worth of stock in Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard.

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And now with Nintendo, it has taken another giant step showcasing a very high interest in the growing video games industry.

Fans not happy with Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Nintendo

Meanwhile, the hardcore Nintendo fans were upset to know about this development. Most of them weren’t able to believe that their favorite company now also involves Saudi Arabia as a stakeholder.

“So this mean that they might ruin Nintendo?!…”, wrote one frustrated fan.

In other news, Nintendo is currently preparing for its next batch of upcoming releases. With the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Splatoon 3, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the line-up seems quite promising.

What are your expectations from the Mario maker’s all new titles coming out later this year? Let us know in the comments.

READ MORE: Nintendo Switch vs Steam Deck: How the Japanese Giant Could Finally Face Real Competition In 2022