- The panel included Roland Daher, Chief Executive Officer of AstroLabs, Nasser Alkathiri, Director of Entrepreneurship Empowerment at CODE, Mohammed Alnasyan, Senior Investment Associate at IMPACT46, and Ali Alharbi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at UMX Studio, moderated by Nasser Bin Rubayan, Program Manager at Nine66.
- The recently released 2023 Saudi Gaming Market Outlook Report revealed a significant 80% of developers have less than five years of experience, with an impressive 52% being entirely self-taught.
- In a pivotal moment during the event, AstroLabs and IMPACT46 jointly announced the launch of the Arabic version of the ‘2023 Saudi Gaming Market Outlook Report.’ – the first Arabic report on the sector.
- To download the Arabic version of the ‘2023 Saudi Market Outlook Report’, visit: https://www.astrolabs.com/ar-2023-saudi-gaming-report
Riyadh, October 4th – AstroLabs and IMPACT46, in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s Center of Digital Entrepreneurship (CODE), proudly presented the ‘Future of Saudi: Gaming Levels Up’ event at the CODE Headquarters in Riyadh, marking a significant step forward for Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning gaming industry. The event attracted a diverse audience, uniting gamers, gaming founders, developers, and industry stakeholders.
Distinguished industry experts converged for a panel discussion that offered insights into the future of gaming within the Kingdom. The panel included Roland Daher, Chief Executive Officer of AstroLabs, Nasser Alkathiri, Director of Entrepreneurship Empowerment at CODE, Mohammed Alnasyan, Senior Investment Associate at IMPACT46, and Ali Alharbi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at UMX Studio, moderated by Nasser Bin Rubayan, Program Manager at Nine66.
The panel discussion covered key topics, including the strategic importance of the gaming industry in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals and the need for upskilling and investment in local talent. The recently released 2023 Saudi Gaming Market Outlook Report revealed a significant 80% of developers have less than five years of experience, with an impressive 52% being entirely self-taught. These figures underscore the sector’s early-stage evolution. The discussion also revolved around the need to bolster seasoned studios in their later phases through the implementation of specialized acceleration programs tailored to sharpen their go-to-market strategies.
In a pivotal moment during the event, AstroLabs and IMPACT46 jointly announced the launch of the Arabic version of the ‘2023 Saudi Gaming Market Outlook Report,’ the first Arabic report on the sector. This report provides crucial insights into the evolving gaming landscape within Saudi Arabia, further cementing the nation’s position as a global gaming hub.
The event showcases AstroLabs’ commitment to building the region’s gaming industry through a dual approach. Fostering innovation and growth for local developers, and bringing in regional and global businesses, providing support with setting up, localization and cultural adaptation to bolster growth further.
During the event, up-and-coming local gaming studios from the Gamechangers program launched in 2021, showcased their games to attendees. In 2021, the Gamechangers program, in partnership with AstroLabs and CODE, graduated 10 gaming studios, 2 of which had won the ‘Most Promising Games Award’ for LEAP23; this event echoes the ongoing enablement of local gaming studios.
The event also highlighted the remarkable gender diversity in the Saudi gaming ecosystem, as exemplified by the Gamechangers program, where 60% of the graduating gaming studios were founded by women.
The ‘Future of Saudi: Gaming Levels Up’ event showcased the collaboration on all fronts of the ecosystem, bridging the impact of government initiatives, investor support, and ecosystem builders.
To download the Arabic version of the ‘2023 Saudi Gaming Market Outlook Report’, visit:
https://www.astrolabs.com/ar-2023-saudi-gaming-report
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Lara Fakih, director of communications – AstroLabs (lara@astrolabs.com)
About AstroLabs
AstroLabs is an innovation ecosystem builder that enables the growth of people, companies, and innovation capacities on a regional level. With 10 years of active building in MENA and a vibrant community across 3 coworking spaces in the UAE & KSA, AstroLabs is MENA’s trusted partner in solving the innovation challenges of tomorrow by navigating the innovation landscapes of today.
AstroLabs is positioned as the number one expansion partner in KSA with a fully integrated offering for all companies looking to operate in the Kingdom. In partnership with the Ministry of Investment in Saudi Arabia (MISA), AstroLabs has helped 450+ businesses scale to the Kingdom from setting up, soft landing, to multi-platform registration and their first local hire. Beyond setup, AstroLabs is the Kingdom’s default expansion partner, enabling high-growth businesses to scale through value-based talent recruitment, team structure & building, and support network access programs.