Savvy Games Group announced Monday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Riyad, Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University (KSU) to work together to develop gaming and esports talent for the country.
The goal of this agreement is to develop a framework for joint cooperation to create future talent for these emerging sector in the country as part of the Saudi Arabian government’s Vision 2023, which aims to move away from revenue generated by energy (oil) to other sectors such as entertainment, amusements, tourism, gaming, and esports. For its part, Savvy Games Group will give students direct exposure to its esports and gaming businesses through a number of jointly developed initiatives and programs.
“This partnership with King Saud University reflects our commitment to building the next generation of talent that will help shape the future of Saudi Arabia’s games and esports sectors,” said Savvy Games Group chief Human Resource Officer Majed Al-Muhanna.
In an announcement on LinkedIn, Savvy Games Group wrote:
“Through this partnership, we will work together on initiatives that advance skill development, promote knowledge exchange, and create pathways for students to gain exposure to the interactive entertainment industry. These efforts contribute to the goals of the #SavvyAcademy and align with the National Gaming and Esports Strategy under #Vision2030.”
Savvy Games Group is a gaming and esports company which is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. In addition to managing all of the government’s investments in the gaming sector (which includes financial stakes in companies such as Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive, Activision Blizzard, and a significant stake in developer Niantic), it also owns Monopoly Go maker Scopely, Japanese fighting game developer SNK Corporation, and esports and festival company ESL FACEIT Group.
The PIF also plans on buying a stake in Electronic Arts and helping the company to go private in a deal valued at $55 billion USD.
Properties owned or tied to the Saudi Arabian government are frequently accused of helping the government engage in so-called “sports washing,” or using various forms of sport and entertainment to cover up its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms are actively highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.