The gaming industry has overtaken almost everything in the world of entertainment. Find out more at A new world for gamers in Saudi Arabia.
A new world for gamers in Saudi Arabia
Prior to the end of the decade, the Kingdom could become the largest esports hotspot in the world thanks to its large youth population and videogame investment policy.
A new world for gamers in Saudi Arabia
Boulevard Riyadh City opened the world’s largest esports festival last summer, rocking to the beat of drums and bass under a canopy of fireworks and drones. When thousands of professional gamers descended on the Saudi capital to fight for $45 million in prize money in front of a sell-out live audience, Gamers8 captured the attention of the gaming community.
The excitement surrounding Gamers8, which has developed into the Esports World Cup, is a testament to how widely played video games are in Saudi Arabia, both for leisure and competition.
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Saudis are now some of the world’s most avid gamers. Acknowledging this growing popularity, the government is putting billions of dollars into the digital and videogame industries in an effort to fulfill its goal of becoming one of the largest videogame and esports hubs in the world.
The action is also consistent with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification plan, which is spearheading a number of revolutionary investments across the economy in areas such as new cities, infrastructure, tourism, aviation, R&D, cutting-edge technology, sports, and entertainment.
Perhaps somewhat surprise, videogaming is also targeted as a major growth engine of Saudi Arabia’s future. It is driven by local talent, demand, and economic potential on a worldwide scale. By the end of the decade, gaming revenues in the Kingdom should surge, largely due to Saudi Arabia’s population of over 23.5 million gamers.
A new world for gamers in Saudi Arabia
Additionally, Saudi Arabia has a well-established track record of success in the professional esports scene. In 2018, the 18-year-old Mosaad Aldossary, also known as MSDossary, won the FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final.
Alongside the Kingdom’s economic growth, the videogaming community has expanded and changed in the five years since MSDossary’s worldwide success. According to estimates, 42% of Saudi gamers are women and girls, indicating that young female Saudis are becoming a significant component of the country’s gaming community. A new world for gamers in Saudi Arabia
With plans to do so currently in place, the Kingdom is able to take advantage of new business and cultural opportunities arising from new sectors being established from the ground up by tapping into this hitherto underrepresented population.
The Savvy Games Group was founded in September 2022 as part of Saudi Arabia’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy. Its mission is to invest $37.8 billion in the development and acquisition of top game publishers, early-stage developers, esports organizations, and established industry partners. By 2030, Savvy is predicted to have established 250 gaming enterprises in the Kingdom, generating 39,000 new employment and increasing the industry’s GDP contribution to $13.3 billion.
Some of the giga-projects being developed throughout the Kingdom, like NEOM and Qiddiya, which both have expansive masterplans that include cutting-edge, immersive gaming districts, will also contribute to the unlocking of this economic potential.
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There is no reason Saudi Arabia cannot become a global leader in video gaming and esports before the end of the decade, given the infrastructure, core demographic, and ambition that are currently in place. This is evident from the sector’s history and development. The majority of videogames were invented in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, coinciding with the growth of the modern computing industry. Later, Japanese firms emerged as major players in the production of gaming hardware and content.
Despite the continued dominance of the US and Japan, immensely popular and lucrative videogames are being produced worldwide. Finland created Angry Birds, Sweden created Candy Crush Saga, Denmark created Subway Surfers, and Canada created Assassin’s Creed. Saudi Arabia stands to gain a foothold in the current esports market due to the country’s investments in videogames, its youthful and active customer base, and the demand for local content.
The world’s top players will come to Saudi Arabia for the inaugural Esports World Cup, which will unite esports enthusiasts and provide something that the country hopes will be extraordinary. The unwavering belief that eSports is a sport and one of the most significant comes from a commitment to innovate and develop what has never been done before. The desire of Saudi youth to participate in major sporting events, both online and off, is another result of this generation. Whether it’s the FIFA World Cup or the Esports World Cup, they are the motivation for the desire to host major sporting events.
It’s all systems go for Saudi Arabia’s videogamers as their revolutionary investments in esports and videogames bring the virtual and real worlds closer together, open up new avenues, and establish new forms of industry collaboration.