Saudi appoints PIF deputy governor Turqi Alnowaiser as Savvy Games’ interim CEO

Savvy Games’ Brian Ward is the latest executive to cycle out of his position in Saudi Arabia as the PIF continues to pull back from speculative wagers. Ward (LinkedIn) has stepped down as CEO, with PIF Deputy Governor and international investments head Turqi Alnowaiser (LinkedIn) stepping in as interim, Bloomberg reports. Alnowaiser is a familiar name in gaming — he fronted PIF's USD 55 bn takeover of Electronic Arts, which closed last month.

The wider shuffle: Alat’s Amit Midha left earlier this year, Neo Space Group’s Martijn Blanken was replaced, and LIV Golf may be headed for bankruptcy protection after PIF throttled its funding.

The Savvy scorecard: Ward ran the Kingdom’s USD 38 bn gaming strategy since 2021 with uneven results — Scopely’s USD 4.9 bn acquisition handed Savvy the studio behind Monopoly Go, which raced to USD 6 bn in revenue, but esports ended in layoffs and shelved expansion.