Saudi-owned mobile gaming company Scopely has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Turkish studio Loom Games, in a transaction valued at up to $1 billion contingent on performance milestones.

The deal underscores Saudi Arabia’s continued push to position itself as a global force in the video gaming industry, using state-backed capital to expand across development, publishing, and esports.

Istanbul-based Loom Games was founded last year and developed the mobile puzzle title Pixel Flow!, which attracted 10 million users shortly after its launch in the fall, according to a statement from Scopely. The studio’s founders, Kübra Gündoğan and Emre Çelik, will continue to lead the approximately 20-person team from Turkey.

Saudi Capital Expands Gaming Footprint

Scopely, headquartered in California, is best known for publishing high-grossing mobile titles such as Monopoly Go! and Pokémon Go. The company is owned by Savvy Games Group, which in turn is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund.

The Loom transaction adds to a series of investments aimed at building influence across the global gaming value chain. Saudi Arabia has sought to diversify its economy beyond oil, and gaming has emerged as a strategic pillar within that effort.

About 62% of Saudi citizens identify as gamers, playing weekly or daily, according to data from Niko Partners. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who chairs the PIF, has publicly positioned gaming as part of the kingdom’s modernization drive.

Savvy was established in 2021 to consolidate Saudi gaming investments and is led by industry veteran Brian Ward. The group acquired esports platform ESL FACEIT in 2022 and Scopely in 2023, marking a shift from passive equity stakes toward operational ownership.

Turkey’s Mobile Gaming Advantage

The Loom deal also reflects Turkey’s growing prominence in mobile gaming.

The country has developed a reputation for producing globally competitive casual and puzzle game studios. In 2020, Zynga acquired Turkish developer Peak Games for $1.8 billion. More recently, Dream Games, the studio behind Royal Match, reached a $5 billion valuation in a funding round last year.

Turkey’s strength lies in lean development teams, expertise in user acquisition mechanics, and strong monetization strategies within the casual gaming segment, areas that align with Scopely’s mobile-first focus.

By acquiring a majority stake while keeping Loom’s founders in place, Scopely preserves local creative autonomy while integrating the studio into a larger publishing and distribution platform.

Milestone-Driven Growth

The transaction is structured around performance targets, with the $1 billion valuation tied to Loom meeting specific milestones. Such earn-out structures are common in high-growth gaming acquisitions, where user engagement and monetization metrics can materially shift valuation within short timeframes.

For Saudi-backed Savvy and the PIF, the move reinforces a broader strategy: deploying capital not only into established franchises but into emerging studios capable of generating global intellectual property.

As competition intensifies in mobile gaming and artificial intelligence reshapes content production, the kingdom’s investment push suggests it intends to play a sustained role in shaping the next phase of the global gaming industry.