Controversial Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Aiming to Acquire SNK

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. Announced by the MiSK organisation today, the move to acquire an SNK majority is described as a means of "empowering Saudi men and women through building economic partnerships, as part of the institution’s updated strategy to maximize the impact on youth empowerment." MiSK has previously worked with SNK on video game and animation projects, creating training programs for aspiring Saudi game developers. When asked for comment by IGN, SNK refused, aside from pointing to its stock transfer agreement. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.