Consumer Technology Snapshot: The Promising Future Of MENA’s Gaming Market

Gaming is on the rise in the Middle East, leading to boosted investment in developers and publishing companies.

further expand Saudi Arabia’s footprint in the global gaming industry. Seeing the potential for spiraling market demand, Savvy announced a $37.9 billion investment strategy in late 2022 to establish itself as a key regional player, including an allocation of $18.7 billion to invest in game development companies. It plans to establish 250 game companies in Saudi Arabia and raise the sector’s GDP contribution to $13.3 billion by 2030.

MENA’s gaming market is expected to reach an unprecedented $5.4 billion in revenue by 2027, a 51.7% surge from 2022, according to a Statista report. This is mainly driven by the region’s increasing income per capita, growing interest in gaming, and the rising number of dual-income households. According to the research firm, Saudi Arabia dominates the region’s gaming market with a 58% share of its total revenue in 2022, followed by the U.A.E. with 30.7% and Egypt with 10.6%. Additionally, a Konvoy report released in Q1 2023 found that the gamer population in MENA—including on PC, console, and mobile—reached 488 million in 2022, representing 15% of total world gamers.

E-sports, in particular, is witnessing an explosion in MENA, driving overall market demand with solid growth potential over the coming years. In January 2023, Saudi Arabia-based gaming investor, Sandsoft Games, injected $3.25 million into The Tiny Digital Factory, a France and

Canada-based independent mobile racing and motorsport game developer. Then, in April, Savvy Games Group, a games and e-sport company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, acquired American game publisher Scopely for $4.9 billion to

Meanwhile, the U.A.E. gaming market is attracting huge global investments. In late April 2023, the U.S.-based casinos and resorts operator Wynn Resorts said it would establish a $3.9 billion gaming resort in partnership with local partners Marjan and RAK Hospitability Holding in Ras Al Khaimah by 2027, which will include 1,500 lavishly styled rooms, suites, and villas.

Egypt is also weighing in with relatively large gaming investments. In January 2023, the Cairo-based e-sports platform GBarena acquired Tunisian gaming startup Galactech in a share swap deal worth around $15 million in a bid to leverage the 200,000 active users and capabilities that Galactech has in Riyadh, Dubai, and Tunis. GBarena, valued at $45 million, has nearly 700,000 users across 27 countries, with a presence in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the U.A.E.

The MENA gaming market has a large number of global and regional players who are focusing on nurturing their market share and growing their regional and global client base through research and development efforts, strategic partnerships, and other organic and inorganic growth hacks, making it one of the world’s most vibrant and promising gaming markets.

BY JAMILA GANDHI ; JHVEPHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM