Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) is upping his investment in the gaming industry, this time by building a city dedicated to esports.
Well-informed sources announced the project, a $500 million city-within-a-city in Riyadh, which is scheduled to finish construction in 2024.
The project will have a capacity of 20,000 spectators and will host several events, including the World Cyber Games, whose roots go back to the early 2000s.
MBS has spent almost $8 billion acquiring and building stakes in gaming companies across the globe as part of a turbocharged investment spree with the aim of becoming a dominant force in the growing entertainment industry.
Saudi Arabia’s interest in gaming and eSports comes from the very top, with the Crown Prince said to be an avid “Call of Duty” player.
Group, which acquired top eSports firms ESL Gaming and FACEIT in deals reportedly worth a total of $1.5 billion.
Next year, Riyadh will host the Global Esports Games, billed as the world’s “flagship” competitive eSports event.
Despite the domestic and global economic crisis and its involvement in Yemen’s war, Saudi Crown Prince MBS spent an insane amount of money in one game or company’s ecosystem.
Over the last three years, he spent a combined $69,494 and counting on the Battle Pass alone.
Dot eSports revealed that MBS was one of the biggest spenders, affirming that he has already spent more than $6,000 on The International 2020 Battle Pass.
MBS has been active on Dota since 2011 and has played over 10,000 matches in Dota, totaling a 5,772-5,467 win/loss record—a 51-percent win rate.
His play-time is private, but at the time of recording, they had put 9,046 hours into Dota, along with nearly 550 hours into Team Fortress 2.
MBS was widely named as the “Gamer Prince” after hosting the international eSport gamers forum “Next World” this month.
Much like with Formula One and professional golf, the world’s biggest oil exporter has in recent years leveraged its immense wealth to assert itself on the eSports stage, hosting glitzy conferences and snapping up established tournament organisers.
