HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation and Vice Chairman of Savvy Games Group (Savvy), and Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy, have this month led a senior business delegation to China. The delegation was accompanied by senior leaders from VSPO, the leading Chinese esports company, including Dino Ying, co-founder and CEO, and Danny Tang, co-founder, CFO and head of strategy.
Visiting Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, the delegation engaged with current and future partners in China’s games and esports industry. The visit further strengthened commercial partnerships between China, the world’s biggest esports market, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it implements Vision 2030 and becomes a leading global hub for gaming and esports.
In 2023, Savvy, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $265 million into VSPO, becoming the largest international investor. Savvy’s long-term investment is helping VSPO to continue to deliver on its global strategy and accelerate the growth of mobile esports.
The meetings in the visit also covered preparations for the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) which will take place in Riyadh in the summer of 2024.
HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Vice Chair of Savvy Games Group, said: “We learned so much from this trip. We will work with VSPO to connect global esports markets and build Saudi Arabia into the hub of the global esports and gaming market. Through long-term investment and capital deployment, we will build a sustainable and profitable global esports ecosystem.”
Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group, said: “China’s position as the largest esports market, with over 400 million fans and significant industry revenue, underlines the valuable role the Chinese market will play in supporting the continued development of Saudi Arabia’s thriving gaming and esports sector. This visit provided a valuable opportunity to strengthen Savvy’s connection with our partners at VSPO, as well as building our insights and network within one of the world’s foremost games and esports markets.”
Dino Ying, Chair of VSPO, said: “Two years ago, I communicated with Savvy for the first time in a Zoom call. At that time, I realized that although we were from two different markets, our ideas on technological innovation, the future of esports, player ecology and professionalization were very consistent. That’s why we were already thinking about how to cooperate, not whether to cooperate. Now we are more confident because we have a shared vision and a friendship, and we plan to make more innovation for the industry together with Savvy in the future.”