India-based festival and esports company NODWIN Gaming has sold its stake in the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) to Qiddiya City, the mega-city project owned by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Qiddiya City bought a substantial stake in the fighting game championship circuit in September 2025, and fully acquired the company responsible for producing it, RTS. With this week’s transaction (amount not publicly disclosed), EVO becomes fully owned by Quiddiya.
On Aug. 31, it was announced that India-based NODWIN Gaming had acquired Sony Interactive Entertainment’s stake in Evo for an undisclosed amount, with the company moving from an ownership role to becoming a sponsor of the event. In that same announcement, Qiddiya announced that it has invested an undisclosed amount in Evo co-owner RTS. Qiddiya served as a global partner of Evo in 2024.
NODWIN said in the announcement that it would continue to support EVO with marketing efforts. The Esports Advocate reached out to NODWIN prior to the publication of this story, but did not receive a response at the time of writing.
The story was first reported by Shacknews.
In case you are not familiar with Qiddiya, it is a mega-city project backed by the Saudi Arabian government-owned sovereign wealth fund, the PIF. Qiddiya’s goal is to become the central location for companies that want to set up shop and do business in Saudi Arabia, such as game developers, esports organizations, tournament organizers, and tech companies. The project is also home to a number of tourist attractions including theme parks, race tracks, golf courses, sporting and esports venues, concert halls, hotels and restaurants, and more.
Projects backed by the Saudi government are often accused of being used for “sports washing,” or as a cover for the government to gloss over its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, its mistreatment (and executions of) journalists, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms have been highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.