Saudi studio Majestic Mind Games pockets $1.45M to take original IP global

For anyone tracking where Gulf capital is flowing next, the clue is in the pixels. Saudi Arabia’s gaming push has long been associated with massive sovereign funds buying stakes in foreign publishers — think of the billions poured into global giants. But the $1.45 million raised by Jeddah-based Majestic Mind Games tells a quieter, arguably more significant story: the kingdom is now paying homegrown studios to invent worlds of their own.

The round was co-led by Merak Capital and Impact46, two Saudi investors that have become fixtures in the region’s tech and gaming scene. Founded in 2023 by Lujain Albukhari and Majed Anbar, Majestic Mind Games develops original titles primarily for PC, with selected games expanding to console and mobile. The fresh capital will go toward building new intellectual property aimed at international markets. The studio’s core team also includes lead artist Samaher Bantan and game programmer Mohammed Baeshen.

To understand why this matters, you have to step back from the dollar figure. Saudi Arabia’s gaming strategy, driven by the Public Investment Fund, has historically been about acquisition — buying into established names like Nintendo or EA. That approach put the kingdom on the map as a heavyweight buyer. But the next phase is different. Local studios are being encouraged to create original IP that can travel beyond the region. Majestic Mind Games is part of that shift, and its backing from NEOM — the futuristic megaproject that has become a magnet for experimental ventures — signals that the state sees gaming as more than entertainment. It sees it as a soft-power tool and an economic diversifier.

The founders themselves are emblematic of a broader generational change. Albukhari and Anbar are not industry veterans imported from California or Tokyo; they are Saudi entrepreneurs building a team locally. That matters in a country where the population is young, digital-native and increasingly eager to see its own culture reflected in the games it plays. The studio’s stated mission — designing games around entertainment while encouraging curiosity, creativity and independent thinking — sounds almost educational, but it is also a deliberate positioning for global audiences who are tired of recycled franchises.

For investors like Merak Capital and Impact46, the bet is not just on one studio. It is on the ecosystem itself. As Saudi Arabia pushes toward its Vision 2030 goals, sectors like gaming are being recast as pillars of a post-oil economy. The government has poured money into infrastructure, esports events and talent programs. What has been missing is a pipeline of original Saudi IP that can compete on the world stage. Majestic Mind Games, with its PC-first focus and international ambitions, is an early test case for whether that pipeline can actually produce.

The $1.45 million figure is modest by global standards — a rounding error in the budgets of major publishers. But in the context of Saudi Arabia’s emerging independent game development scene, it is meaningful. It gives a small team the runway to finish games, iterate and prove that a Saudi studio can hold its own against studios from Seoul or Montreal. The investors have said their decision was based on the team’s combination of originality, commercial discipline and long-term execution capabilities. That is a vote of confidence in people, not just projects.

Looking ahead, the real question is scale. Can Majestic Mind Games turn a single successful title into a franchise? Can it attract international partners and distribution deals? If it does, it will open the door for more Saudi studios to seek funding and aim higher. If it stumbles, the lesson will not be that Saudi talent is lacking, but that building original IP takes time, patience and more than a few million dollars. Either way, the direction is set: the kingdom is no longer content to be a buyer of games. It wants to be a creator, and this small round in Jeddah is one of the earliest bets on that ambition.