The Middle East's gaming industry has seen a major boom in the past few years, with many e-sports teams forming to play competitively. Getty
The Middle East's gaming industry has seen a major boom in the past few years, with many e-sports teams forming to play competitively. Getty
The Middle East's gaming industry has seen a major boom in the past few years, with many e-sports teams forming to play competitively. Getty
The Middle East's gaming industry has seen a major boom in the past few years, with many e-sports teams forming to play competitively. Getty

Mena gaming market to grow to $5bn by 2025, RedSeer says


Alkesh Sharma
  • English
  • Arabic

The size of the Middle East and North Africa gaming market is projected to increase 19 per cent to more than $5 billion by 2025, from 2019, according to a new report.

Growth of the market will be fuelled by increased spending from existing gamers, more time spent by users and surging advertisement revenue, according to a report by the consultancy RedSeer.

“Mena gaming is set to exceed unprecedented heights, post the jump seen in 2020-21, owing to the [Covid-19] pandemic and sustained growth is expected across the markets. Localisation of gaming content, Web3 are other key drivers,” RedSeer said.

A growing consumer influx from “underappreciated cohorts”, such as females and Gen X (aged between 41 and 56 years) gamers is adding momentum to the industry, the consultancy said.

Globally, the gaming sector has about three billion participants, according to gaming data provider Newzoo. AP
Globally, the gaming sector has about three billion participants, according to gaming data provider Newzoo. AP

The gaming market is booming worldwide after people resorted to at-home entertainment during coronavirus lockdowns over the last two years.

The gaming sector has about three billion participants globally, according to industry data provider Newzoo.

The market's value is forecast to rise to $339.95bn by 2027, from $198.4bn in 2021, according to Mordor Intelligence.

“We see female gaming enthusiasm matching or even eclipsing their male counterparts in many key Mena markets,” RedSeer said.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE — the Arab world’s largest economies — led the industry growth in the region as they experienced the highest penetration of gaming.

In the Emirates, nearly 64 per cent of online adult males and 58 per cent of online females are into digital gaming, while the kingdom has 68 per cent of online male gamers and 69 per cent of online female gamers, according to the report.

The overlap between gaming and Web3 positions the industry as an “ideal beneficiary from the virtual world”, the report said.

Web3 is being touted as the next iteration of the World Wide Web, with blockchain, decentralisation, openness, and greater user utility among its core components.

“Its [Web3’s] meteoric rise and growing investor excitement have brought many of its fundamental components under the microscope. This naturally sheds more light on already thriving gaming segments such as AR/VR [augmented reality / virtual reality] games,” it added.

More than one in five gamers in the Mena region participate in play-to-earn games for their rewarding nature and to boost income, the research revealed.

The gaming market across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt is expected to be worth $3.14bn by 2025, according to California-based market research and consulting firm Niko Partners.

In February, MBC Group, the biggest broadcaster in Mena, formed a joint venture with Neom, the $500bn high-tech mega-city being built in the kingdom, to set up the first AAA games development studio in the region.

A month earlier, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, launched a gaming company, Savvy Gaming Group, to strengthen its position in the sector.

The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm

Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km

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Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Essentials

The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes. 
 

Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes. 


In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes. 
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.

RESULT

Copa del Rey, semi-final second leg

Real Madrid 0
Barcelona 3 (Suarez (50', 73' pen), Varane (69' OG)

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

Tips for used car buyers
  • Choose cars with GCC specifications
  • Get a service history for cars less than five years old
  • Don’t go cheap on the inspection
  • Check for oil leaks
  • Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
  • Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
  • Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
  • Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
  • If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell

Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

SM Town Live is on Friday, April 6 at Autism Rocks Arena, Dubai. Tickets are Dh375 at www.platinumlist.net

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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Updated: June 01, 2022, 6:00 AM`