Brian Ward has stepped down as CEO of Savvy Games Group, the Saudi Arabian state-owned gaming investment vehicle, after overseeing roughly $38bn in acquisitions including Niantic and Scopely. His departure comes shortly after Saudi Arabia's $55bn leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts, the largest acquisition of its kind in gaming history, which reportedly sparked internal concern at Savvy about how the two Saudi-backed gaming businesses would coexist. Turqi Alnowaiser, deputy governor of the Public Investment Fund, will take over on an interim basis while Savvy determines its next direction.

During Ward's tenure, Savvy spent $3.5bn on Pokémon Go developer Niantic and $4.9bn on Monopoly Go studio Scopely, alongside heavy investment in esports through the Esports World Cup, an event that has yet to turn a profit and recently relocated from Riyadh to Paris amid regional instability. Industry commentator George Osborn praised Ward's discipline, citing the Scopely deal and the decision to pull out of Embracer at the right time, while suggesting Savvy's future could see it absorbed under EA or folded back into the PIF as part of Vision 2030.