Uploading some family snaps to Instagram directly benefits its parent company, Meta, which is laying off workers despite posting bumper profits and paying virtually no tax on said profits. Xbox owner Microsoft is complicit in the slaughter of thousands of people in Gaza. The British National Health Service, used by millions of people, has a contract with the controversial American surveillance firm Palantir. Even something as simple as using Google to search the web supports a company that abandoned its “don’t be evil” motto many, many years ago.
However, Premier League football club Newcastle United has been owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund since 2021, but its stadium is full for pretty much every game. Can you have your cake and eat it, ever?
We’re slowly but surely coming to terms with the fact that many of the companies and brands we support aren’t as squeaky clean as we’d perhaps like, but surely, the onus is then on us as consumers to vote with our wallets and shun such firms?
After all, it’s not like there’s no way to access SNK’s Neo Geo library outside of what’s available right now. The console first launched in 1990, and while expensive to own in 2026, there are plenty of second-hand AES and MVS units out in the field, and flash carts exist that grant access to the entire selection of software. You could also emulate the system on your PC or on a MiSTer FPGA (the latter of which ultimately provides the foundation for the forthcoming Neo Geo+).

All of these approaches mean you’re not lining the pockets of the current owner (or, as The Video Game History Foundation’s Frank Cifladi sardonically puts it, “between the Embracer ownership of the hardware and the SNK license, [you] get to give money to two Saudi-funded companies at the same time, what a deal.” It’s therefore somewhat straightforward to take a side in this debate, even if you still want to connect with SNK’s games and hardware history.
There are also other issues related to Saudi ownership of SNK that go beyond simple moral ethics. “If, hypothetically, Saudi Arabia decided one day it wasn’t happy with a certain company or industry, it could absolutely pull out,” says Makar. “We’ve started seeing this already with LIV Golf, which Saudi Arabia will cease funding. SNK, unless Metal Slug has been popping off in ways I can hardly imagine, is not a massive money maker. It is not impossible that Saudi Arabia decides its money is best spent elsewhere.”
Despite this, the Neo Geo+ will no doubt sell decently enough to be considered a success for both Plaion and SNK; from what we’ve heard so far, it looks set to be an excellent system – and the right to make a choice is what’s most important here, according to Szczepaniak.

“My buying the AES+ is not me justifying immoral or unethical behaviour,” he says. “But I also realise that denying myself a small amount of joy in an otherwise miserable world is not going to change anything. Everyone needs to make this decision on their own; you have the right to boycott, and the right to buy. If you dislike something, please do not engage with it. And likewise, allow others who choose to engage the freedom to do so.”
This seems to be where both Szczepaniak and Cheesemeister agree, even if they will ultimately make different purchasing choices: while Szczepaniak is happy to purchase a Neo Geo+ and pay tribute to the company that inspired many of his childhood gaming adventures, Cheesemeister feels that the right to boycott is equally, if not more, important.
“How are we, the customers of video games, supposed to react when murderers come to sell us products?” concludes Cheesemeister. “For starters, we need to be better informed about whether supporting certain products will put our money directly in the pockets of villains. Let’s make it a standard part of the conversation at the point of reporting so that it’s not just swept under the rug. Announcement trailers certainly try to lure in those who just didn’t know, and coverage merely echoing sales points does the public a disservice. Based on the knowledge that certain game products are morally compromised, we, the consumers, need to vote with our wallets. If you don’t want to give money to MbS, don’t buy Neo Geo or other SNK products. Boycott things that you find objectionable. We’ve got plenty of other games to play.”
🗃️
/₂