The ESL, one of the world’s biggest and oldest esports companies, has been bought by Savvy Gaming, an esports investment company backed by the Saudi Arabian Government’s Public Investment Fund (via Handellsblatt). For how much, you may ask? A humongous US$1 billion if you didn’t catch the headline.

Money has never been an issue for the Public Investment Fund, which was created by the Saudis to help secure the country’s future without relying on oil. Of course, this means that ESL is funded by alleged blood money. The Saudi Arabian government and royalty have a long history of alleged corruption and brutal dictatorships. Previously, the Saudis bought a number of football clubs, most recently struggling Premier League outfit Newcastle United, and used them as PR fronts to “sportswash” the human rights abuse they’re associated with.

How will the gaming and esports scene react to seeing one of their most esteemed gaming companies being taken over by parties  often linked to a slew of human rights issues? Time will tell.

If you need more information about Saudi Arabia’s history with this sort of bloodletting, documentaries like The Dissident can help shed light on that. On a related note, the aforementioned documentary was cancelled on Netflix at the last minute due to the streaming service allegedly being backed by Saudi Arabian sponsorship.