"SNK lead insists Saudi Arabia sale 'will have no effect on the games we make'," 11 Sep 2020

Acclaimed Japanese fighting game studio SNK is unique in that it was nearly totally acquired by [PIF, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth] fund earlier this year, including the ownership of the Fatal Fury, Metal Slug and King of Fighters IPs.

Saudi Arabia officials have said the investments will help modernize the kingdom, but they have come with negative fallout due to the country’s highly criticised human rights abuses...

The head of Saudi Arabia’s gaming investment arm has dismissed such concerns as “older impressions” of the country.

Regardless, its 96% investment in SNK has led to concern from many fans who do not want to support companies owned by the government, and those worried that future SNK games could see content restricted – particularly related to LGBT issues and women.

“For us, we’re just focussing on making games. We’re not a political company or anything like that, so it doesn’t affect us in any way,” Yasuyuki Oda, the producer and designer behind SNK’s biggest series, insisted when asked by VGC about concern around SNK’s ownership...

SNK’s management did not provide additional comment for this story when approached to do so.