Saudi-Backed Entities Now Hold Over 10% of Capcom Shares

While Capcom was busy celebrating Resident Evil Requiem crossing 6 million units sold faster than any other entry in the series, a Saudi-linked investment firm was quietly accumulating one of the largest outside stakes in the company's history.

A report submitted to Japan's Kanto Local Finance Bureau on March 13 disclosed that Electronic Gaming Development Company (EGDC) had acquired 26,788,500 Capcom shares, equal to a 5.03% stake. That purchase alone would be notable. But stacked on top of the more than 5% stake that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund already bought directly in 2022, Saudi-backed entities now account for over 10% of Capcom's outstanding shares combined.

EGDC, founded in 2020 and linked to the MiSK Foundation, stated its rationale plainly in the regulatory filing: the acquisition is "pure investment," meaning the firm expects to earn profits from share price appreciation or dividends. Automaton West reported that EGDC is owned by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman through MiSK, while Shacknews described it as a subsidiary of the PIF-funded MiSK Foundation. The organizational lines between EGDC, MiSK, and PIF are drawn slightly differently depending on who's reporting, but the financial direction is consistent across all of them.

If the Capcom stake sounds familiar, the SNK playbook is the precedent. EGDC took a 28.8% position in SNK in late 2020, then ballooned that to 96.18% in 2022, and now owns 100% of the developer behind Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, and Metal Slug. That full ownership of SNK makes the Capcom investment read differently than a passive portfolio play, even if the filing language stays neutral.

The timing of the purchase is hard to ignore from a market standpoint. Capcom's share price sat at 3,562 JPY at time of reporting, and Resident Evil Requiem gave the company one of its strongest AAA launches in recent memory. Street Fighter 6 continues generating revenue with its Year 3 Fighters Pass, which will add veteran fighter Alex to the roster. Both franchises represent exactly the kind of stable, high-performing IP that would make Capcom attractive to a sovereign wealth-adjacent investor looking to park capital in the games sector.

This Capcom stake is not EGDC's or PIF's first move in the broader industry. PIF increased its positions in EA and Take-Two Interactive in early 2023, and last year Scopely, owned by Saudi state-backed Savvy Games Group, agreed to acquire Niantic's entire video game business for $3.5 billion. PIF is chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, who has faced allegations relating to the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the torture of human rights and women's rights activists, and the construction of an authoritarian political system.

Whether EGDC's Capcom position stays at 5.03% or follows the SNK trajectory is the question every publisher in Japan's gaming sector probably started asking on March 14.