Young, edgy and feminine is the new face the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is presenting to the world with esports as it changes its game in the industry.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), a reported avid “Call of Duty” video gamer, released an export strategy for his country last week, calling for the creation of 39,000 jobs and the production of more than 30 games in domestic studios against 2030.
For Saudi Arabia’s first female e-football title holder, this plan began a few years ago with the establishment of the National Esports Federation in 2017 and her government’s drive to increase its talent pool.
“A girl doesn’t have to play at home anymore,” said 25-year-old Najd Fahad, who won the FIFA global e-soccer championship in 2020 – but before that she would play anonymously online to avoid public scrutiny.
“The number of women playing professionally is now increasing year on year,” said the 01 Esports national team member. This is followed by an increase in the number of mixed national teams and leagues.
Level up
Saudi Arabia and the greater region are still in their early stages and need more platforms where gamers can hone their skills to develop a globally competitive esports ecosystem.
“It almost didn’t exist,” said Charbel Khoury, co-founder and CEO of ESTAZ, a leading esports platform and competition operator in the UAE that was founded last year to fill this void. “But that’s changing now,” he added.
Earlier this year, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) launched Savvy Gaming Group with MBS as co-chair and bought leading esports events and competitions company ESL for $1.05 billion and FACE IT Company.
In August, the capital closed the Gamers8 esports festival with a prize pool of $15 million. Still, Khoury said that despite the perceived magnitude of such events, the country is still taking its preparatory steps.
“They don’t make money today, it’s just investments,” he told Al-Monitor. “The day they start making money is when Riyadh becomes a hub and earns from esports tourism.”
To meet Saudi’s 2030 revenue target, he said, the country would need to partner more with local and regional companies that can operate locally within months to set up events and training platforms, bring in influencers and hire gamers. rather than relying on larger international companies which can take years.
capital outflow
The majority of esports revenue is generated by sponsorships that aim to reach hundreds of millions of regular viewers worldwide, and the MENA region is an untapped resource.
With more than half of the region under the age of 30 and about 65 million gamers in the so-called MENA-3 (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) by 2021, according to the Middle East North Africa Games Market report, they are targeted by an advertiser.
However, mainly Arabic speaking Arabic gamers need more personalized platforms and content to be influenced.
The average Saudi user spends about $270 annually mainly on mobile games, which is higher than the global average, according to Ithra, a cultural and research center in Dhahran.
Still, the country’s $1 billion gaming industry, including esports, is losing much of its local spending.
“Consumption of mobile games in Saudi Arabia is mainly driven by international games, with local production severely underfeeding Saudi consumers,” quoted Ithra’s 2021 Digital Wellbeing Global report, which found that less than 1% of the top 1,000 downloaded homegrown video games.
Real growth
The solution, experts suggest, lies in the maturing of the regional game development sector, as esports, or competitive video gaming, accounts for only about $1 billion of the $198.4 billion global gaming market value according to a 2021 Gaming Market report from. Mordor Intelligence.
“Especially since 2017, there has been much more interest in esports than in the actual game development process,” said Yousef Buhazza, founder of Unreal Bahrain, a community-based volunteer group that supports people in Bahrain and the region with game development where investment and lack of interest.
“With international products, you have limited growth because you’re not really building anything outside of the esports and localization industries that already exist,” he said, adding that developing games locally creates jobs, supports creative and tech industries, and helps with the overall expansion of a country’s economy.
He said regional governments tend to invest in international games because of their guaranteed popularity and revenue, while local independent games are considered high risk.
“But that view is shifting,” said Buhazza, who found progress in talks with Bahraini government agency Tamkeen, which invests in the private sector to boost economic growth.
“They really understood the value of the game development community and they are working on a three-year grant program to support game developers through the community,” he said, a mindset he hopes will fly through the region and build long-term. to long-term growth.
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