Women in Games International Members Concerned by Savvy Games Group Sponsorship

Some members of Women in Games International (WiGI), a global organization that supports women in game development and esports, expressed disappointment and concern that one of the organization’s major sponsors during events and talks held at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco (March 18 – 22) was Savvy Games Group.

The sponsorship caused concern, according to sources who spoke to The Esports Advocate this week (on background), because Savvy Games Group’s ownership could be considered counter to the organization’s messaging concerning women’s rights. That’s mostly due to the fact that Savvy Games Group is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian government, backed by its sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund, and its chairman of the board—HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, or HRH Crown Prince MBS—is the ruler of Saudi Arabia.  

Based in the United States, WiGI describes itself as a “501c3 nonprofit organization that champions a safe, inclusive, and diverse workforce in the video game, tabletop, and esports industries with equal access and opportunities for all.” 

Savvy Games Group has investments in Chinese tournament operator VSPO, owns a majority stake in Japanese game maker SNK Corporation, and is the parent company of ESL FACEIT Group, the biggest esports tournament operation in the world and home to a number of companies including esports and gaming festival company DreamHack, tournament organizer ESL, and tournament platform FACEIT—and as we mentioned earlier, is 100% owned by the Saudi Arabian government.

The association is not new (WiGI has worked with ESL in the past on tournaments aimed at supporting women including ESL Impact), but the direct messaging aligning the organization essentially with the Saudi government is.

The Esports Advocate reached out to WiGI on Monday but the organization did not respond to our request for comment. TEA also reached out to Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward for comment but he also did not respond, as of this writing.

The sponsorship included messaging (which could be described as “deliverables” per a sponsorship deal—though we can not independently confirm if these were just posts of gratitude for the support, instead of contractual obligations) thanking sponsors including Meta for Developers and Savvy Games Group. A screen capture of one of those posts: 

But critics say that WiGI’s messaging on empowering women (or women’s rights) in gaming and esports is misaligned with the realities on the ground in Saudi Arabia. Further, some attendees to its GDC party were dismayed to find out later (or while they were physically at the events) that it was in fact sponsored by Savvy Games Group.

So what are some of the concerns related to women’s rights in the Kingdom? Here are just a couple of examples from leading international human rights watch groups.

From the section on Women’s Rights in the 2023 report from Human Rights Watch on Saudi Arabia:

“Despite some reforms, authorities continue to implement a male guardianship system requiring women to obtain male guardian permission to get married, leave prison, or obtain some forms of sexual and reproductive healthcare. Husbands reportedly can withhold consent if a woman seeks higher education abroad.”

Further, human rights watchdog group Amnesty International pushed back last week on news that Saudi Arabia will chair the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Citing its recent report on “a leaked draft of Saudi Arabia’s first written penal code,” Amnesty International said that it would have “further catastrophic consequences for women in the country.”

On Saudi Arabia’s appointment to this UN leadership role, Amnesty International Deputy Director for Advocacy, Sherine Tadros, said:

“The Commission on the Status of Women has a clear mandate to promote women’s rights and gender equality and it is vital for the chair of the commission to uphold this. Saudi Arabia’s abysmal record when it comes to protecting and promoting the rights of women puts a spotlight on the vast gulf between the lived reality for women and girls in Saudi Arabia, and the aspirations of the Commission.

“The UN Charter clearly states respect for human rights as a primary purpose of the UN. Membership of its human rights bodies means an added responsibility to strengthen this respect, globally and domestically. This is compounded for leadership roles in these bodies.”

One person (who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation) who spoke to TEA on Wednesday, summed up her feelings (and the feelings of many others who were dismayed about the situation) on the sponsorship by Savvy Games Group:

“I do not fundamentally understand how WiGI can accept this money while atrocities like the penal code pose legitimate concerns to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, women, and marginalized genders.

“It contradicts everything that they are supposed to support and yet this clearly indicates they are supportive and complacent with what Saudi is doing.

“Their actions, by accepting this money, clearly show support of the restrictive, unequal, and downright scary laws that Saudi Arabia is putting into place.”

While progress has been slow (and Amnesty International thinks it is going into reverse), some say that people outside the region are not giving Saudi Arabian society enough credit for real reforms that are evident to anyone who visits the country. In a Substack newsletter, Australian-born international journalist and author Hollie McKay detailed visible changes in the country during a visit in October of last year, noting the drastic changes that have occurred in Riyadh society since the last time she visited in 2018.