Reporter Yoon Ji-hye of Money Today | 2023.04.18 15:25
WeMade “nothing confirmed” in the Saudi Investment Ministry’s visit to Korea
There are comments that the government of Saudi Arabia may join WeMade.
According to the game industry on the 18th, it is known that an official from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment will visit Korea this month to meet with a domestic game company. In particular, a meeting is expected with Jang Hyun-guk, CEO of WeMade, who has seriously entered the Middle East. Following the establishment of ‘Wemix Mena’, a Middle Eastern branch, in January, WeMade entered into a strategic partnership with Nine 66, a subsidiary of Savvy Games Group under Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF), in February to promoting its own blockchain. platform, Wemix, into the Middle East
This is not the first meeting between the Saudi Investment Ministry and Jang. At last year’s G-Star meeting, CEO Jang said, “Last week in Saudi Arabia, the Minister of Capital and Enterprise Investment visited and met and had a meeting.” I persuade you,” he said.
However, a WeMade official said, “We are having various discussions with Saudi Arabia to attract investment and collaboration,” but “we cannot confirm individual issues.”
The Saudi government, which has emerged as a ‘big hand’ in the global games industry, is increasing investment in domestic game companies. PIF, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, known as a game fanatic, bought a 9.14% stake in Japan’s Nexon and a 9.26% stake in NCsoft, becoming the second largest shareholder of each company. In November last year, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Investment also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Shiftup, the developer of ‘Victory: Nike’.
An industry insider said, “While Saudi Arabia is increasing investment in cultural content to ‘get rid of oil’, Korean game companies seem to be undervalued.”
[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
