Why Dubai? The hottest city for the games industry in MENA right now

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We’ve been banging on for ages now about how the MENA market is the fastest growing region in games. With no signs of that slowing – and never afraid to put our money where our mouth is – we’re back in the highest profile city leading the territory’s growth, powering the Dubai GameExpo Summit this May 7-8.

We thought it was high time to explore what makes Dubai such an attractive proposition in today’s global market.

What is MENA? 

The term stands for the Middle East and North Africa, which is a fluid grouping of countries including Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and more. Some definitions include more countries, but those are the big hitters. 

Why is MENA of interest?

Newzoo’s Games Market Report and Forecast showed that while the global market achieved 0.6% growth year-over-year in 2023, the MENA region enjoyed a 4.7% rise.

And if we focus even more closely on the MENA-3 games market (Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt), Niko Partners data showed an increase of 7.8% Y/Y for the same period. That impressive growth massively outstrips the global average and explains why so many international games companies are increasingly interested in getting into MENA.

To mention just one example of top-tier overseas activity in the area, PlayStation parent Sony launched the MENA Hero Project last year to identify local talent and help take their games worldwide.

And why Dubai?

Of the MENA-3, the UAE is arguably the highest profile country in terms of international business. Dubai is its biggest city and a familiar gateway for overseas businesses to the MENA region, as well as a route to other emerging markets, including Africa, Asia and beyond.

The city’s authorities are understandably keen to emphasise that its, ‘Location as an innovation hub bridging the East and the West helps it offer unrivalled access to the world’s fastest-growing economies.”

That’s why the city has attracted global megacorps such as China’s Tencent Games to set up its MENA HQ in Dubai. Global publishing GM Vincent Wang said at the time that, “The UAE’s high mobile and internet penetration is an extremely encouraging indicator for tech firms across the world, and is especially relevant to the global games industry.”

Focus on games

As a well-established global financial hub, Dubai is well equipped as a safe and regulated market for high value transactions between the East and the West. But the forward-looking region has specific plans in the games sector. The United Arab Emirates has ambitions to create a $1 billion domestic games industry within 10 years, powered by the Dubai Program for Gaming 2033.  

The scheme focuses on three areas: talent, content and technology and aims to strengthen the digital economy in Dubai as well as the UAE as a whole. It plans to achieve this through investment and business support, plus educational and training programmes. The overall goal is for Dubai to become one of the top 10 cities in the global games industry and build a $1 billion industry by 2033.

The Program for Gaming 2033 also aims to create 30,000 jobs in the industry and part of that was the introduction of last year’s Gaming Visa initiative to attract overseas candidates to the area. And not to overlook homegrown talent, the Pixel Machina scheme offers courses in game development and design to establish a community of 100,000 digital creators in Dubai.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai and chairman of Dubai executive council said, “Through the launch of Dubai Program for Gaming 2033, our objective is to establish an incubating environment for developers and to draw leading technology companies from across the globe.”

Speaking at last year’s Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects, Dubai Economic Development Corporation CEO Hadi Badri disclosed that there has been significant government investment in infrastructure in Dubai. The ambition, he said, is for Dubai to be a “global crossroads” for knowledge sharing and networking – and for the games industry. He claimed that the games sector would get “unwavering support” from the government.

Emerging Technologies

Beyond games and into emerging technologies, Dubai is well positioned to be at the forefront of the charge into the metaverse, thanks to initiatives such as Dubai’s Metaverse Strategy by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai.

The strategy makes it clear that as part of its metaverse push, Dubai is targeting artificial intelligence (AI) and Web3/blockchain to become a global capital of advanced technologies. Arabian Business has hailed Dubai as the most crypto-ready city in the Middle East and the second in the world.

Dubai is already home to over 1,000 companies in the metaverse and blockchain sector. As the city attracts new players, the sector’s current contribution of $500 million to the UAE’s economy is estimated to increase significantly. The Dubai Metaverse Strategy aims to support more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030 and add $4 billion to Dubai’s economy in five years.

When speaking about its own Dubai stock exchange – formerly DIFX – Nasdaq reported that, “As the MENA region leapfrogs in digital innovation and emerging technologies, there is a growing urgency and importance in recognizing the position that the region holds in steering the progress of blockchain and digital assets in the world.”

Find out for yourself

If you want to explore the unique opportunities to be found in Dubai – plus the UAE and MENA as a whole – we’re back hosting the Dubai GameExpo Summit once more this May 7-8. Tickets are available now with prices starting at under $40 with Mid-Term discounts.