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Monday, November 30, 2020

Saudi prince with sordid record buying into Japanese video game company

If this news on IGN is correct, it appears a once well regarded video game publisher is selling out to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman:
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia - through his youth-focused MiSK charity - has purchased 33.3% of SNK, the developer behind King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown, Metal Slug and more. MiSK has announced its intent to buy a total of 51% of shares, and take majority ownership.

It's a move that's already causing controversy, given that the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has previously been directly implicated in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, accused of sending an assassination hit squad into Canada, and is the de facto leader of a country repeatedly lambasted for multiple human rights abuses.

The 33.3% of SNK shares were bought for approximately $216 million, valuing the full company at around £648 million.
Aside from concerns that they could censor and obliterate whatever past players found appealing about their games for the sake of the Religion of Peace's beliefs, what's mainly offensive is the lack of moral compass on display here from SNK company executives themselves, permitting a man with such a repellent record of abuses to buy into their company...and potentially sell out to him altogether. If you care about the products of a company like SNK, you'll have to boycott them now in order to send a message. Demand that they buy back the stock they sold, among other things, and not sell ownership to such a monster and his still totalitarian Islamic regime. This is definitely a terrible day for anybody who liked to play King of Fighters, among other computer games made by SNK, in the past.

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