Saudi-owned gaming studio Scopely Inc. has agreed to take a majority stake in Turkish development studio Loom Games, as the kingdom seeks to transform itself into a video gaming hub.
The deal is worth as much as $1 billion, a figure based on Loom Games hitting certain milestones, according to a spokesperson for Scopely.
Istanbul-based Loom Games was formed last year and is the maker of mobile puzzle game Pixel Flow!, which racked up 10 million users after launching in the fall, according to a statement from Scopely on Thursday.
Loom founders Kübra Gündoğan and Emre Çelik will continue to run the approximately 20-strong studio from Turkey.
California-based Scopely focuses on mobile titles, publishing popular games including Monopoly Go! and Pokémon Go. It is owned by the gaming investment company Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to diversify its economy away from oil and has used the PIF, Savvy and Scopely to pursue an aggressive deals strategy to become influential in video gaming. About 62% of the country’s citizens consider themselves gamers, playing weekly or daily, according to data shared with Bloomberg News by Niko Partners.
Ruler and PIF chair Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presents himself as a modernizing force and is a self-confessed video-game fan, partial to Microsoft Corp.’s Call of Duty.
In September, Electronic Arts Inc. agreed to sell itself to a group of investors that included the sovereign wealth fund, in the largest leveraged buyout in history. The PIF is the biggest contributor to the deal, Bloomberg News previously reported.
The fund also holds a stake in Nintendo Co.
The PIF established Savvy in 2021, and appointed gaming industry veteran Brian Ward as its chief executive officer. Savvy acquired esports company ESL FACEIT group in 2022 and Scopely in 2023.
The deal is another high-profile acquisition in Turkey, which has emerged as a global powerhouse in mobile gaming thanks to developer expertise in casual games. FarmVille creator Zynga Inc. acquired Turkey’s Peak Games for $1.8 billion in 2020, while Royal Match maker Dream Games was valued at $5 billion in a funding round last year.
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