A company owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund just bought the most popular AR video game of all time.
  • FermionWrangler@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    11 hours ago

    I’m glad I never played that game. Call me old fashioned but I prefer the original Pokemon games on the Gameboy, that’s all I ever played. It was fun going to friends’ houses and gatherings and trading Pokemon over Link cable. Fun times.

  • Doorbook@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    12 hours ago

    A country that investing in any successful product doesn’t mean they want your data. If they are interested they can buy it directly from any large organization and if must they can use spy ware or other means of intelligence.

    If you have privacy concern, you have bigger issue than a game that is for all we know is dying game.

    • cool@lemmings.worldEnglish
      0·
      11 hours ago

      Because a lie told often enough becomes true.

      Realistically, every useful idiot is afraid to say they don’t know if a Chinese company is a spy network because it’s sooooooooo obvious even asking for proof makes them look stupid.

      Ironically, not asking for proof is what makes us stupid.

      If something is “so obviously true” yet nobody can provide evidence for it when asked, it’s probably the propaganda mill doing its job.

  • El_Azulito@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    13 hours ago

    Saudi Govt: So MbS, what are we doing this week?

    MbS: Well, first we’re gonna buy Pokémon Go, and if THAT goes well, then we’ll try to negotiate peace for Ukraine.

    Saudi Govt: Priorities, Crowned Prince Mohammed. 💪

  • Mamba@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    20 hours ago

    Scopely is the company that bought Pokemon Go (and others). Scopely was not created by the Saudi Arabian Government as the article states. It was created in the US. But was purchased by Savvy Games (A Saudi Arabian company) in 2023. It still operates independently and is based in the US. Though I do admit they probably report up all the way. Scopely is also the developer of Monopoly Go.

  • recentSloth43@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    22 hours ago

    Saudi Arabia isn’t a person. I hate it when news titles aren’t specific enough. Is it the government that bought them? A private company? Just a dude that happens to be Saudi? The implications can change drastically based on who bought it.

    Also the article link isn’t working for me so all i got is the title. And as most people that’d see it, they’d also only read the title, this type of simplification can lead to a lot of misinformation. Or worse, racism, as you combine a whole country and its people to one entity which is dehumanizing. I’m speaking from experience as a Saudi person who’s always grouped with the “saudi” or "Arabic " or “brown” groups instead of another human being.

    In short, news should stop generalizing and be more specific, especially in the titles, the part that most people will interact with.

    • KumaSudosa@feddit.dkEnglish
      0·
      21 hours ago

      I mean, if it’s in Saudi Arabia you know the royal family is in full control, so in this it kind of makes sense

    • Obelix@feddit.orgEnglish
      0·
      21 hours ago

      Saudi Arabia isn’t a person.

      Yes, it is. In an autocratic monarchy, in a dictatorship, everything belongs to the king. The house of Saud is treating the country as their personal property and let’s not pretend that anything would prevent the guy who killed a journalist in his embassy from accessing that data.

    • fxomt@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      22 hours ago

      unpaywalled: https://archive.is/7yc9S

      A Saudi Arabian company that was created by the Saudi Arabian government just purchased Pokémon Go

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Investment_Fund

      If you can’t see the article i will paste it for you.

      I’m speaking from experience as a Saudi person who’s always grouped with the “saudi” or "Arabic " or “brown” groups instead of another human being.

      So am i, and i’m also sick of it and the people who use this to fuel discrimination. I see this article as more of a reason to hate the sauds, not saudi people.

        • melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          0·
          19 hours ago

          there are cases where this is more or less true. I think the less democratic/representative and more oppressive a government, the less fair it is to group a people with their regime. the saudis have an absolute monarchy that bone-saws journalists in foreign countries.

          which probably fucks up their culture something awful, but not in the same ways their government is monstrous.

          • DaveyRocket@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            19 hours ago

            I guess I’m pretty suspicious of all states and the control they exert over the average person to use that metric. It’s my opinion that if democracy worked, it’d be illegal (or subverted by a CIA-backed coup).

            • melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
              0·
              19 hours ago

              well, yes. I don’t think a government can completely align with the values of the people it dominates, they are inherently shitty, but shittiness is a spectrum.

              and yes, that is what the CIA is for. that, and cocaine trafficking.

  • Tattorack@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    1 day ago

    Saudi Arabia? I remember about 10 or so years ago that Saudi Arabia had banned Pokemon because “it promotes materialism”.

    What changed?

    • fxomt@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      0·
      22 hours ago

      After MBS became the de-facto leader (after some purges, to centralize all the power to himself) he started “liberalizing” and giving us more freedoms. It’s all bullshit.

      Women weren’t even allowed to drive four years ago. That was probably the only good thing he gave us.

  • oxytocin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    1 day ago

    Haven’t played the game in years, and wasn’t aware of any of this. People discussing “What’s worse, Saudi Arabia or Niantic?” feels positively dystopian.