Saudi Arabia's Push Into Gaming Is a Distraction

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There's not an industry to speak of in Saudi Arabia at the moment. It's similar to their drive into sports, whether it's buying Newcastle or practically taking over the PGA. Increasingly the Saudis, particularly the Crown Prince, are also focused domestically. He's taken on a lot of populist tactics and one of them is to give Saudi youths what they want when it comes to the social stuff. So they're getting entertainment and they like gaming.

UK hedge fund firm Odey Asset Management is being dismantled in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against its founder and Saudi Arabia has spent almost $8bn on gaming companies in the past 18 months as part of a turbocharged investment spree. Plus, FT markets editor Katie Martin talks about this week’s asynchronous central bank moves.

Mentioned in this podcast:

ECB increases interest rates to highest level since 2001

Chinese economic data fuels gloom over recovery

Saudi Arabia spends billions in drive to dominate global games industry

Odey Asset Management to be broken up

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The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson and Marc Filippino. The show’s editor is Jess Smith. Additional help by Katie McMurran, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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