Nintendo is now Partially Owned by Saudi Arabia… But Why?
Saudi Arabia – yes, the country – has made a significant investment in Nintendo. Not a specific branch of Nintendo, but the company itself. According to a Bloomberg report, this makes Saudi Arabia the fifth-largest stakeholder in the company.
As surprising as this news may be for you to read, this shock is not limited to spectators. Nintendo hasn’t said much on this subject so far, but according to Eurogamer, the company learned about it from “news reports” rather than an internal company process.
Interestingly, this move isn’t that out of character for Saudi Arabia’s investment strategy. The nation already owns stock in Activision-Blizzard, Capcom, and Electronic Arts, among others.
What does this mean for Nintendo? Likely, very little. The total share count is a rather small fraction, which gives Saudi Arabia minimal influence over the company’s actions. Whether we see the nation’s influence spread through these games depends entirely on Nintendo’s drive to do so.
The quality of investment here seems solid – Nintendo’s been around and growing for a long time. There is a potential bump in the road, though. In the next couple years, Nintendo should be unveiling and releasing their follow-up to the Switch. We could easily see a repeat success, but the company could always find itself in another Wii U situation.
Either way, Nintendo will certainly appreciate the influx of support. Will this be enough to drastically increase the quality of games? Hard to say, but probably not – 5% is only a drop in the bucket, after all. But those results certainly won’t be zero.