Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
Niko Partners predicts that games revenue in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt (MENA-3<\/a>) will grow 56% from $1.8 billion in 2022 to $2.8 billion in 2026. This represents a CAGR of nearly 10% \u2014 indicating a major growth opportunity for the region. This forecast is part of the games market research firm\u2019s second annual MENA-3 Games Market Report & Five-Year Forecast<\/a>. <\/p>\n
MENA-3 growth<\/h2>\n
In addition to this revenue growth, the firm estimates the number of gamers will also grow nearly 30%, from 67.4 million last year to 87.3 million by 2026. This translates to a CAGR of about 6%, which means that users are not growing nearly as fast as spending. As a result, the firm predicts that average user spending will increase over the next five years.<\/p>\n
Niko Partners points to three drivers of this revenue growth: mobile gaming, public and private sector investments and esports. <\/p>\n
Mobile is the largest platform by revenue and players in MENA-3. Accessibility is a key factor \u2014 there\u2019s a healthy market for consoles and PCs, but mobile is projected to grow by double digit CAGR over the next five years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
Event<\/h3>\n
\n
GamesBeat Summit 2023<\/p>\n
Join the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You\u2019ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the latest developments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n Register Here <\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/body><\/p>\n
Investments in gaming and esports have made headlines recently. In particular, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its subsidiary Savvy Games Group made several high profile investments. This includes a $38 billion plan<\/a> to make Saudi Arabia a global hub for gaming. <\/p>\n
Esports in MENA-3<\/h2>\n
Esports serve to drive travel and tourism to the country and strengthen the country\u2019s position in the games market. Savvy acquired top event organizers ESL Gaming<\/a> and FACEIT for a total of $1.5 billion last year and the flagship Gamers8 festival<\/a> will return in July 2023. Additionally, rival organizer BLAST has partnered with Abu Dhabi Gaming<\/a> to host events in the UAE. <\/p>\n
Niko Partners expects that by 2026, MENA-3 will be competing with hubs like Singapore and China.<\/p>\n
The firm\u2019s data also supports this investment strategy into esports. 73% of gamers in MENA-3 engage with esports in some capacity. This includes such as watching esports content, playing esports-focused titles or competing in amateur or professional tournaments. This shows broad appeal for competitive gaming in the region.<\/p>\n
More specifically, about two in five gamers across the MENA-3 region watch esports content (41.7%) or play esports titles (40.7%). A further 12.4% have competed in amateur or pro esports tournaments themselves. Further investment and high-profile events could incentivize more engagement with esports \u2014 a needed growth segment<\/a> for the industry.<\/p>\n
Regional Differences and Demographics<\/h2>\n
MENA-3\u2019s audience is also driving its growth potential. While gaming continues to skew heavily male in the MENA-3 region \u2014 67.4% of gamers in MENA-3 are male vs. 53.7% of the population \u2014 the audience is young on average.<\/p>\n
76% of gamers in the MENA-3 region are under the age of 35. Egypt in particular stands out, having a significantly higher percentage of gamers under 25 years old compared to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Additionally, Egypt has the largest population of gamers and is the fastest growing market in the MENA-3
region. <\/p>\n
In comparison, Saudi Arabia is the largest market by games revenue and is considered the gaming powerhouse of the region according to Niko Partners. Of course, this is partially fueled by the PIF\u2019s investments. Meanwhile the UAE has the highest ARPU of the three markets.<\/p>\n
These results are based on Niko\u2019s ongoing insights and analysis from regionally-based analysts, proprietary market model and 5-year forecast, a survey of 1,126 local gamers and interviews of industry professionals from the region. Niko Partners full 100-plus page report<\/a> on the MENA-3 region is available now. <\/p>\n
GamesBeat’s creed<\/strong> when covering the game industry is “where passion meets business.” What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you — not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Read More<\/a>
\n Jordan Fragen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
February 2, 2023 11:15 AM Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here. Niko Partners predicts that games revenue in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt (MENA-3) will grow 56% from $1.8 billion in 2022 to $2.8 billion in 2026. This represents a CAGR of nearly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":604148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118771,23745,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-604147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mena","8":"category-partners","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Event<\/h3>\n\nGamesBeat Summit 2023<\/p>\nJoin the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You\u2019ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the latest developments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n