With a predominantly young and digitally savvy population, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is really making its mark in the gaming industry.
Around 55 percent of the MENA population is aged under 30, with a 95 percent smartphone penetration. As such, they are comfortable with, and fluent in, technology and its various platforms and applications and it is therefore no surprise that the region’s gaming market is one of the fastest growing in the world.
Boasting more than 375 million gamers, the region has almost as many as the whole of Europe combined and it is anticipated that this number will continue to rise. With several governments in the region recognising the positive economical impact of gaming, and therefore investing heavily in it, new milestones and peaks of activity are expected in the near future.
For instance, Tamatem’s own data reveals that Egypt is already home to over 23 million players and the indications are that gaming is likely to flourish in this market even more. By far the largest country in the region in terms of population, Egypt has a significantly higher percentage of gamers aged under 25 than the likes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and its true potential in the gaming world is yet to be fully realised as these gamers make their mark.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia unveiled its National Gaming and Esports Strategy last year with a mission of becoming a global hub in the industry by 2030. Nearly 90 percent of the Saudi population are gamers, the highest per capita globally, and it also has the highest average revenue per paying user worldwide at $270 per user.
Consumer spending in gaming in Saudi Arabia is expected to become as big as the Turkish market, growing at 22 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the projected market volume of the UAE is expected to hit $221.5 million by 2027 and the Egyptian mobile gaming market is valued at $528 million. These numbers are substantial and are likely to grow exponentially in the coming years.
The popularity of gaming gained further momentum during the COVID-enforced lockdown, as it became one of the most popular activities when the world was forced to stay indoors – particularly when it came to gaming on mobile platforms. And while the mobile games market has, until recently, been believed to be male dominated, there is a longstanding but often lesser recognised female gamer community that has been growing from strength to strength over the last few years.
Now more than ever, with esports becoming more established and accessible, female gamers are on the rise and there are some incredibly inspiring players. In fact in Saudi Arabia, female gamers are outnumbering their male counterparts, while they are also quickly catching up in the UAE.
Tamatem Games, a mobile games publisher in the Arabic speaking world, is predominantly run by women and we are excited to see an increasing involvement of women, both professionally and recreationally, in the industry.
We launched Tamatem Games because there was a dearth of Arabic language games available online for audiences in this region. Now, it is not so much a question of increasing the number of games available in the Arabic language, but creating ones that can both entertain and suit the culture of the Arabic-speaking market. Ultimately, our communities are always looking for content they can relate to and understand.
Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world, with 319 million native speakers, but if an international or non-Arabic game developer is looking to expand into the Arabic-speaking world, they must look at ways in which they can make their games or content relatable to the Arabic-speaking user.
The MENA region and the Arab market as a whole have cultural and linguistic differences and intricacies that can truly impact the way a game is consumed and played. If people create games that are relatable to the culture of their audience, demand for these games will automatically increase and this also creates healthier and better competition within the market. And all of this promotes the development of and wider interest in the sector that we love.
The MENA-3 of Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt are naturally important players in the region’s gaming industry, but other countries are also playing their part. Jordan is home to Tamatem as well as the very first gaming company in the region, Maysalward, while Qatar aspires to become an important hub for the gaming world.
The future is so exciting for the MENA games market and what we have seen so far is just the beginning.
