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Saudi Investment Fund pays $3.5bn to capture Pokémon Go

It is amongst the highest-grossing mobile games in the world, with 30 million monthly players.

The deal marks the latest step by Saudi Arabia to develop its gaming industry, which it has spent billions of pounds on in recent years. Ed Wu, who leads the Pokémon Go team at Niantic, said in a blog post he believed the move was "a positive step" for the game's future. Saudi Arabia's PIF has hundreds of billions in assets due to its oil wealth, which it has been investing heavily in sports such as golf, boxing and football, including a purchase of Newcastle United in a £300m deal in 2021.

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