Middle East Gaming Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Middle East Gaming Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Middle East Gaming Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period 2021-2026.

With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the gaming market in the region is expected to witness significant growth, owing to an increased usage of online gaming services. Various gaming vendors in the market studied are expected to focus on increasing their user base during this period and surging returns post COVID-19 scenarios, owing to which vendors are offering benefits, offers, and waiving off their fees on the use of their services.

Key Highlights

• The gaming industry is proliferating in the United Arab Emirates, with rising interest and investment in locally developing homegrown talent and games. In terms of spending, it is a very diverse region. It is expected that the average gamer in the country spends USD 115 per year.
• Additionally, the growing penetration of smartphones and online gaming is a key factor driving the growth of the market. The growing development of AR-based apps and games is expected t create market opportunities over the forecast period.
• The government of the country is also heavily investing billions of dollars in theme parks and the amusement space. So, as a Saudi entertainment industry stakeholder, trade visitors can attend dedicated conferences to gain knowledge and wealth of experience and get a hands-on technology experience at its innovative best.
• Saudi Arabia set up a new charity e-sports event to raise money to fight the COVID-19 outbreak with a USD 10 million prize fund. The competition comes as the COVID-19 outbreak keeps people at home, shuts down businesses, and restricts travel to a minimum. This may unite and connect the global gaming community in response to COVID-19. With around 70% of the country's population under 30 years and approximately 20 million gamers or gaming enthusiasts, the market is expected to witness growth over the forecast period.

Key Market TrendsSmartphones is Expected to Hold the Significant Market Share

• Smartphone gaming has increased in the past couple of years. In UAE, mobile gamers play an average of 20 to 40 minutes of video games a day (source: AdColony). This increasing demand for mobile games is a direct result of various technological advancements such as AR, VR, cloud gaming, 5G. This trend is not surprising considering the mobile game industry primarily relies on new technology. Another trend in the market includes the rise of the hyper-casual game genre.
• AR is becoming perfect for mobile gaming, owing to its immersive and interactive nature of technology. Moreover, mobile games are the most popular AR category in app stores. Apart from previously released AR mobile games that are still popular, such as Pokémon Go and Ingress, multiple new additions to the genre are being made by players in the market such as Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Minecraft Earth.
• In August 2020, OPPO, a global smartphone brand, partnered with Dubai Summer Surprises to create a gaming extravaganza for the youth. The challenge was developed to engage gamers in the country with a uniquely designed, socially distant gaming arena at Mall of the Emirates.
• Dubai Media City also announced that it will launch a new Instagram Live series called GAME_ON, in collaboration with ON.DXB, which will feature regular video game development workshops. Al-Natsheh's workshop will comprise 3D modeling, rigging, animation, sound engineering, VR, and tips for developers in the United Arab Emirates to further their careers.

Adoption of E-Sports Betting and Fantasy Sites Drives the Market

• E-sports are witnessing substantial market demand in the current market scenario, and they are, thus, driving the overall gaming industry across the middle east. The entire e-sports market is expected to grow over the coming years.
• Working with the Saudi Telecom Company, Activision introduced dedicated servers – hosted in Riyadh and Jeddah – for Call of Duty in the region. Moreover, Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends, followed suit with Middle East servers for the game Valorant, in October 2020.
• More recently, Kuwaiti telecoms provider Zain Group – which has 50 million customers across MENA – launched a new eSports brand, Zain Esports, with the aim of building a calendar of regional online eSports tournaments.
• As part of this growth, Dubai plans to build a dedicated eSports stadium, and the South Korean-based International Esports Federation (IESF) signed an MoU with the UAE's Motivate Media Group, as part of their plans to expand eSports in the Middle East.

Competitive Landscape

The Middle East Gaming market is moderately competitive and consists of a significant number of global and regional players. These players account for a considerable share in the market and focus on expanding their client base across the globe. These players focus on the research and development activities, strategic alliances, and other organic & inorganic growth strategies to stay in the market landscape over the forecast period.

• October 2020 - Red Magic, the gaming arm of global mobile technology company Nubia, announced the launch of its much-awaited mobile 5s in the UAE. The powerful gaming mobile will be sold in the United Arab Emirates through its authorized distributor, Blooms Group, exclusively with Virgin megastore's'. The Red Magic 5s comes with ICE 4.0 active liquid-cooling with a turbofan system that enhances gaming experiences to keep the phone cool and running optimally during intense use and even when charging. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 with 5G to enable users to enjoy PC-level gaming on their phones.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned
 
Sony Corporation
Microsoft Corporation
Apple Inc.
Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
Electronic Arts Inc.
NetEase Inc.

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