Saudi sovereign fund acquires $3.3bn stake in Activision, EA, Take-Two Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Saudi sovereign fund acquires $3.3bn stake in Activision, EA, Take-Two And $4.4bn in Uber. News by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 18 Feb 2021 123 comments The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country's investment group chaired by controversial crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, has scooped up shares in big-name game publishers Activision Blizzard, EA and Take-Two worth more than $3.3bn. The investments were made in the fourth quarter of last year, and have come to light now in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing reported by Al Jazeera. That filing shows the PIF now owns $1.3bn in shares in Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard and $1bn in shares for FIFA maker EA. This equates to around 3.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively of those companies' share totals. It has also invested $825m in GTA publisher Take-Two, about 3.5 per cent of that company's total shares. The PIF also owns shares in various non-video game companies, such as around $1bn in live events conglomerate Live Nation Entertainment. It has a $4.4bn stake in Uber, and a modest $150m investment in NovaGold, a company seeking to mine gold in Alaska. These are not the first investments in video games from the Saudi Prince Mohammed. Last November, the crown prince's flagship charity bought a third of Japanese game company SNK, with an eye to increase its ownership to 51 per cent. Back in June 2020, The League of Legends European Championship, the professional esports league run by Riot Games, announced a sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabian city-building project Neom - before backtracking on the move after significant criticism. Prince Salman is a noted video games fan who has previously said he enjoys Call of Duty. He has also been blamed by the CIA for the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while his rule of Saudi Arabia has kept up the country's notoriously poor human rights record, with homosexuality still criminalised with punishments ranging from floggings to the death penalty. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store