Saudi Arabia and Japan have teamed up to explore ways of localizing gaming and digital entertainment in the MENA nation.
As reported in Arab News Japan, the Saudi Arabia-Japan Vision 2030 Business Forum’s digital entertainment roundtable highlighted the KSA’s initiatives to develop a local gaming industry that includes localizing Japanese games for the Saudi market.
This will also see both countries partner with esports tournament organizers and invest in digital entertainment as the KSA gets set to host the first ever Esports World Cup in July where teams will compete for a $60 million prize money.
Promoting cultural exchange
Saudi Ministers Abdullah Al-Swaha and Khalid Al-Falih attended the Tokyo event, with Al-Swaha giving an opening speech. Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al-Saud also joined a panel discussion focused on fostering cultural exchange by creating content that appeals to both Japanese and Saudi audiences.
Officials discussed translating Japanese manga and anime through Saudi publishers and explored co-publishing new content. This comes as the KSA’s gaming sector is projected to reach $1.3 billion in two years, with 58 gaming companies and 67% of its population (over 24 million people) are active gamers.
We recently interviewed ESL FACEIT and Qiddiya Gaming co-founders to know more about the MENA’s esports trajectory and the significant investments being put into gaming to make the KSA a global hub.
