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(PIF) bought a 5 percent stake - worth $2.98 billion -�� in Japanese gaming company Nintendo, continuing its streak of purchases in the industry.��

The sovereign wealth fund, worth around $500 billion, bought 6.5 million shares in the Kyoto-based creator of Super Mario World and Donkey Kong, making it the fifth-largest shareholder.��

The acquisition follows a string of in gaming firms, including over 5 percent stakes in online gaming providers Nexon and Campcom, creators of��Resident Evil.��

“Saudi Arabia has been beefing up efforts to create its own content industry,” said Hideki Yasuda, a senior analyst at a Japanese investment company to Bloomberg.��

“This series of investment in Japanese games companies is likely a way for them to learn from Japan,” said Yasuda.��

������ contacted about the Saudi purchase but received no response by the time of publication.��

A Nintendo spokesman said the company learnt about the acquisition through news reports, and would not comment on individual shareholders, according to Bloomberg.��

Nintendo projected a 29 percent year-on-year decline in net projects last week, according to the Financial Times.��The company's president, Shuntaro Furukawa, warned that��global chip shortages could have an impact on the production of their popular Switch console.��

Nevertheless, the gaming industry��has become a favoured investment opportunity for the Saudis, who see the growth of nontraditional sectors as key to their “

The Kingdom recently introduced "game development" into their computing curriculum��to “enhance the culture of innovation…and training citizens to be able to design and program e-games,” according to the Vision 2030 Quality of Life programme.

Saudi Arabia’s gaming market hit $1 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $6.8 billion by 2030, according to the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.��