Saudi Arabia has reduced its stake in Nintendo

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has reduced its stake in Nintendo, according to a new report.

CNBC (viaGamesIndustry.biz) notes that Savvy Games – an investment group founded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – has cut its stake in Nintendo from 8.58% to 7.54%, a move which still makes it one of Nintendo’s largest shareholders.

The move follows widespread reports that Savvy Games was considering a move to increase its stake in Nintendo, reports stemming from an interview which was later corrected.

Kyodo News had initially quoted Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud, the group’s vice chair, as saying that the company was interested in investing further in Nintendo.

However, the site later corrected inaccuracies in the quotes, instead attributing Savvy Games’ interest to “Japanese gaming companies” in general instead of Nintendo specifically.

The fund acquired a 5.01% stake in Nintendo in May 2022, and as of mid-2024 this had grown to 8.58% of the company.

Nintendo has previously claimed that when the PIF bought its initial stake in the company,it was unaware of the transaction and first learned about the Saudi investment from news reports.

The PIF, which has made a series of investments in the video games industry in recent years, is reportedly central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s goal of making the Saudi economy less reliant on proceeds from oil.

In December 2020, the fund acquired over $3 billion worth of stock in Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, FIFA publisher Electronic Arts, and Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two.