Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, chairman of Saudi Esports Federation and the Arab eSports Federation, revealed Saudi Arabia’s ambition to develop its video game sector in an interview with AFP, affirming the Kingdom’s desire to become a global hub for video games and esports.
In 2022, the Kingdom announced a $38 billion investment strategy aimed at creating 39,000 job opportunities related to the gaming or esports sector, with the goal of these sectors representing 1% of the total GDP by 2030.
This summer, Riyadh will host the Esports World Cup, with over $60 million in prizes, aiming to attract millions of viewers.
Prince Faisal explained that video games and esports “naturally evoke” countries like Japan or South Korea, but “we want Saudi Arabia to be part of” this equation.
He sees esports as a “gateway” to much larger ambitions like building a comprehensive industry for video games.
To achieve this, the Kingdom acquired last year, for $4.9 billion, the “Scopely” studio in California, specializing in mobile games. Its game “Monopoly Go,” launched last year, generated revenues of $2 billion in just ten months.
Saudi Arabia’s recent acquisition spree in the gaming industry is just the beginning, according to Brian Ward, CEO of the Riyadh-based Savvy Games Group, a key player in the Kingdom’s national strategy for video games.
Ward, a former executive at “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard, emphasized, “We don’t pause. We don’t do neutral.”
“It’s a good time to be in the market, looking for good teams in studios,” said Ward.
Ward also hopes that Savvy Games will ultimately benefit from investments in major international studios and companies such as Activision Blizzard, Nintendo, and Capcom.
The CEO said his group will find ways to establish more meaningful partnerships with the studios, going beyond mere financial returns. He also affirmed the desire to help these entities in expanding their presence in the Middle East.
Prince Faisal expressed ambitions for the Kingdom having an impact over the next ten years, not just by becoming a global hub, but also by being a regional center, which will stimulate growth in the entire region.
Besides mobile games, Saudi Arabia also aims to produce a high-budget console game by 2030.
