Saudi Arabia accused of 'sportswashing' by buying EVO, the world's largest fighting game festival


by Nelo Hotsuma

Qiddiya, a Saudi Arabian national project, has announced that it has fully acquired the company that runs EVO, the world's largest fighting game tournament. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been eyeing entertainment, including esports, as a new national initiative, but gaming news outlet Kotaku has criticized the acquisition as 'Saudi Arabian sports washing.'

Saudi Arabia 'Sportswashing' Takes Aim At The Biggest Fighting Game Tournament Of The Year
https://kotaku.com/evo-saudi-arabia-street-fighter-6-sony-esports-2000622367

EVO is a fighting game event with over 20 years of history, and is held annually in Las Vegas, USA, with regional tournaments such as EVO Japan and EVO France also taking place. Strong players from all over the world gather at the EVO venue every year, and many Japanese players have won the championship trophy.

The 2020 EVO tournament was scheduled to be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was canceled due to a scandal involving EVO's top management. The event's cancellation likely caused financial difficulties, but Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and its management company, RTS, subsequently acquired EVO.

Sony jointly acquires the world's largest fighting game festival 'EVO' - GIGAZINE


by Nelo Hotsuma

On August 22, 2025, SIE announced that it had sold its stake in EVO to Indian game company NODWIN Gaming. While SIE will remain involved as a global sponsor until 2028, EVO's operations will be taken over by NODWIN Gaming and RTS.



On September 2nd of the same year, Qiddiya's Chief Strategy Officer, Muhannad Aldawood, announced on LinkedIn that Qiddiya had fully acquired RTS. As Aldawood stated, 'Most importantly, this acquisition will enable Qiddiya to continue to drive the continued growth of EVO, the world's largest fighting game event, with limitless possibilities,' Qiddiya will be directly involved in the management of EVO.

Qiddiya is one of the projects planned as part of Saudi Arabia's government development program ' Saudi Vision 2030 ,' launched by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman , and aims to create a huge entertainment complex in Saudi Arabia. The operating organization is supported by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Crown Prince Salman is known to be a fan of games and anime, and in 2022 he acquired approximately 96% of the shares of SNK, the game maker known for the ' Fatal Fury , ' 'Art of Fighting,' and 'King of Fighters' series.

It turns out that the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Foundation owns more than 96% of SNK's shares, which developed 'Fatal Fury' and 'Art of Fighting' - GIGAZINE



In addition, he owns large amounts of shares in well-known game makers such as Nintendo, Capcom, and Koei Tecmo, and it is said that Crown Prince Salman has a significant influence on the Japanese game industry.

The Saudi Arabian Crown Prince who bought SNK is now a major shareholder of Nintendo, and also owns shares in Capcom and Koei Tecmo - GIGAZINE



Additionally, Qiddiya will host the Esports World Cup (EWC), a global esports tournament, from 2024. The EWC will boast the largest prize money in esports history, with GO1, who won the 2025 'Fatal Fury City of the Wolves' division, receiving $300,000 (approximately 45 million yen) in prize money.



Kotaku criticized Saudi Arabia's involvement in the global rise of e-sports, saying, 'This acquisition means that EVO, the premier event for fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8, will become a prime target for Saudi Arabia's 'sports washing.''

Saudi Arabia is trying to become a global entertainment nation by investing huge amounts of oil money in e-sports, soccer, Formula 1, golf, and other areas. However, it has drawn criticism from around the world for its traditionally severe restrictions on women's rights and for the fact that it continues to operate as a de facto dictatorship under an absolute monarchy.

In particular, Crown Prince Salman, who is a proponent of Qiddiya, is suspected of ordering the assassination of journalists who criticize the Saudi Arabian government.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, who teams up with SoftBank's Masayoshi Son Fund, ordered the assassination, and a video of a surveillance camera capturing the execution unit - GIGAZINE



Additionally, a documentary promoting the EWC was released in January 2025, but the version released in Saudi Arabia deleted comments by athletes expressing concerns about LGBTQ+ issues, which caused controversy .

In response to these issues, some professional gamers have announced that they will withdraw from the EWC in protest, claiming that the EWC is nothing more than 'sportswashing' to divert attention from human rights issues.

At the time of writing, the Saudi Arabian investment fund is only one shareholder in EVO, and it is unclear how the change in ownership will affect EVO going forward. Kotaku states, 'At the very least, Saudi Arabia will be added to the list of countries hosting EVO's annual tournaments. The reaction of professional players is also unclear.'

SonicFox, a multiple-time EVO winner in titles such as 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Dragon Ball FighterZ,' has publicly announced that he is gay. In response to the news of Qiddiya's acquisition of RTS, he said, 'For me, Evo is a goal I have dedicated my life to, and I intend to see it through to the end. Even if I am the only one speaking out in the venue, my existence will never be erased. On the Grand Final stage, I will wave a flag symbolizing transgender rights, reveal myself more than ever, and simply raise my voice.'

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in Game, Posted by log1i_yk