Shorooq Partners: State of the Gaming Market in MENAP and globally in Q4 2023
UAE and KSA are competing to become the leading gaming country in the region.
Global Market Trends
In Q4 2023, the number of lawsuits increased by 15%. Epic Games continues to battle against tech giants; Nexon was fined $8.9 million for misleading information about item drop rates.
Indie developers thrive on PC. They account for 40% of all copies sold and 30% of total revenue. When considering the entire market with other platforms, indie developers only hold 5%.
Movies based on gaming IP earned over $1.4 billion in 2023. The main success was The Super Mario Movie; Uncharted and Gran Turismo also performed well.
MENAP Market Trends
The UAE aims to become a global gaming hub by 2033. The plan includes creating over 30,000 jobs in Dubai alone, and gaming companies' contribution to the emirate's GDP should exceed $1 billion.
It is expected that the MENAP region will reach $2.8 billion in revenue by 2026. As of 2022, the market size was $1.8 billion.
The user base is forecasted to grow from 67.4 million to 87.3 million by 2026.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is actively investing in the gaming industry. By 2030, the country aims to create over 40,000 jobs; the Savvy Games Fund has over $30 billion of unallocated budget. The country is building the futuristic city of Qiddiya City, where 30 gaming companies and 25 esports teams are expected to be located.
In Q4’23, there was increased activity from venture investors in the MENAP region. The most notable deals were Farcana ($10 million - developing a Web3 shooter); Rize.gg ($430,000 - an e-gaming platform); GAM3S.GG ($2 million - a Web3 platform).