Saudi Wealth Fund apos;s Savvy Games Group To Invest 37.8 Billion

Xbox maker Microsoft announced the $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard Inc in January and has pledged to keep the hit franchise on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement with Activision.

"You could close your hand and the fish would be moving along with the trigger. So it would be flipping and the trigger would be flapping too. And you could hear it coming from the controller." Doucet says it was particularly surprising: "Seeing something moving inside your hand, fighting back because it's moving, because it's alive, it's a very, very different kind of feeling. We didn't put it in just because we didn't have a good place to do it."

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The PlayStation 5 is a graphically overloaded console with lots of potential, but its standout feature is clearly the upgraded DualSense. Launching Astro's Playroom, the game preinstalled on the PS5, pkv Poker you get a showcase of what it can do. Its triggers stop and start to make it seem like you're gripping ledges or pulling back bowstrings. Walking across ice, the controller tinkles and taps just perfectly to make it seem like I can feel the crunchy surface. The DualSense's vibrational haptics really do create moments where I can almost touch the game.

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It has five independent subsidiaries, including esports arm EFG, as well as Nine66, which "is building an ecosystem for game developers and studios", and VOV company, which is building gaming and competition venues. ($1 = 3.7580 riyals) (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Enas Alashray in Cairo; writing by Yousef Saba in Dubai; editing by David Evans, Alexandra Hudson)

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"Savvy Games Group is one part of our ambitious strategy aiming to make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030," Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said, according to SPA.

"We are harnessing the untapped potential across the esports and games sector to diversify our economy, drive innovation in the sector and further scale the entertainment and esports competition offerings across the Kingdom."

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Immersive magic, but without a headset I'm used to wearing VR headsets, but the PS5's first accessories are immersive without anything to wear. Team Asobi's previous PlayStation games were mostly VR-focused, but the goals with the controller's haptics are similarly immersive. "You know, we've been playing games for so many, many, years and it's sometimes difficult to get surprised again, right?" Doucet says of the challenge. But he saw a lot of potential in the adaptive triggers and haptics right away. "There could be lots of features that sound cool on paper, but you can never quite get them to deliver anything. But these ones were really, really quick to deliver." 

Another 20 billion riyals will be invested in mature industry partners who bring expertise to Savvy's portfolio and 2 billion riyals will target industry disruptors "to grow early-stage games and esports companies."

The investments will include 70 billion riyals to take several minority stakes in companies that support Savvy's game development agenda and 50 billion riyals to acquire "a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner".

But how many games will showcase these new features and will developers take the time? New interfaces are risky. Sometimes, as was the case with the Nintendo Wii, Wii U and even the Joy-Cons on the Switch, it's not easy to get other games to come aboard.

Sony has leaned on its own creative team to showcase the possibilities. Japan Studios' Team Asobi has made games showcasing the PlayStation 4's camera and PlayStation VR headset, and Astro's Playroom does the same for the PS5. It's as much a tutorial for new owners as it is an inspirational attempt to spark what other game developers could do next.