Saudi Prince visits Kojima Productions, meets Hideo Kojima

The reason for the visit is not yet known

Hideo Kojima, the mind behind Metal Gear Solid and much more recently Death Stranding, has met with Saudi royal Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud for yet unknown reasons. Prince Faisal is the president of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports, as well as the Arab eSports Federation.

The famed video game designer posted a tweet with a photo showing him standing alongside the Saudi prince, both in front of a statue depicting Kojima Productions’ studio mascot, Ludens. It’s not known why the two have met, but some have speculated that it could result in the nation investing in Kojima Productions.

Saudi Arabia has been aggressively moving into the gaming space in recent years, through its Public Investment Fund (PIF). The PIF has spent the last year buying bits and pieces of Nintendo shares, becoming the company’s largest external shareholder in February this year with a total of 8.3% of all Nintendo shares.

The PIF has also invested in Chinese gaming giant Tencent, Activision Blizzard, Capcom, EA, Nexon, Take-Two, Koei Tecmo, and many more. It also took over two of the world’s biggest esports organizers, ultimately merging them to become the ESL FACEIT group.

Many have expressed concern about this aggressive investment in gaming companies, due largely to the country’s human rights abuses. Gamers worry that with enough investment, the country could dictate the content in popular games and series, which given Saudi Arabia’s track record with women and LGBTQ+ people, would not be ideal for the diverse gaming community.

Saudi Arabia banned The Last of Us Part 2 due its romance between two women and its depiction of trans characters, and other games like God of War have been banned for violence and for depicting non-conforming religious beliefs. The country having a big say on how games are made could potentially result in changes to the developer’s original intentions.

Kojima Productions is a private company, meaning the details of investors are rarely disclosed. It’s not known who, if anyone, has invested in the company, and it’s not required to disclose which entities hold shares.

So far there’s nothing to suggest the Saudis have invested in Kojima Productions, but tweets like the one from Hideo Kojima have certainly raised eyebrows.