Saudi Arabia unveils National Gaming and Esports Strategy

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia announced the National Gaming and Esports Strategy on Thursday.

According to the state news agency SPA, the strategy signals the start of a new era in which the country will lead the sector and become a global hub for the gaming business by 2030.

It also contributes to the Saudi Vision 2030 aims of diversifying the Saudi economy, creating new job possibilities in various industries, and providing “world-class entertainment” to citizens and tourists.

The Crown Prince stated, “The National Gaming and Esports Plan is driven by the creativity and enthusiasm of our citizens and gamers, who are at the core of the strategy.”

The strategy’s three primary goals are to improve players’ experiences, provide new entertainment possibilities, and have an economic effect by contributing around 50 billion riyals to the GDP.

According to the SPA research, this would result in the development of 39,000 additional work possibilities by 2030.

Saudi Arabia hopes to generate more than 30 competitive games in its studios and become one of the top three countries with the most professional esports players.

“In 2018, we only had two teams,” stated Ahmed AlBishri, COO of the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF), during the recently completed The Next World Forum in Riyadh. “Today, the Federation has over 100 clubs signed up, with over 500 professional players under formal contracts. Even in terms of creating chances and jobs, we’re seeing more and larger numbers, and we expect these numbers to expand significantly in the future years.”

The plan will be implemented through 86 projects across the whole value chain, which will be launched and managed by more than 20 government and commercial organisations.

These projects are grouped into eight key areas, which include technology and hardware development, game creation, e-sports, extra services, and infrastructural facilities, regulations, training, and talent development.

The gaming and esports business is predicted to reach $200 billion by 2023, making it the fastest growing of all media industries. It also reinforces the kingdom’s role as a geographical connection between East and West.

The Crown Prince’s statement follows the 10-week Gamers8 festival, which concluded with The Next World Forum and saw Saudi and international gamers participate in the world’s largest event of its type.

SEF President Prince Faisal bin Bandar stated, “We’re really happy of what we have done, but that’s not where we want to conclude it. We wish to keep pushing and start doing more regular events, as well as participating in more foreign competitions, of which we have brought several here. There’s a lot going on before the end of the year that we want our young Saudi men and women to be a part of, and we want to provide them a road to qualify for and earn their spot on those global platforms.”

“There’s our collaboration with international federations. We’ll begin planning for the Global Esports Federation’s global Esports games in Turkey at the end of this year, which we’ll hold next year. We’ll have our global championships with the International Esports Federation, IESF, towards the end of the year as well. When I say tangible steps, I mean it all the time. We want to ensure that they have the opportunity to qualify, that our partners are all aligned with us and moving in the same direction, and that we are doing the best for not just the local community, but also the worldwide community,” he added.

Meanwhile, Omar Batterjee, SEF’s Head of Marketing, Communications, and Partnerships, emphasised how large the esports business has become.

“I believe one of the most intriguing is gaming and esports because everyone looks at it as if it’s just video games that their children play, and they don’t realise that there’s a full economy behind it.”

“In Saudi Arabia last year in 2021, gaming and esports expenditure topped one billion dollars, 3.75 billion riyals, and we have a population of around 21 million gamers, so you can realise the importance of that business in Saudi, and it’s crucial that we strive to transmit that message.”