The Gamers8 festival, the world’s largest esports and gaming event being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is now well underway.
With teams from all over the world competing for an eye watering total prize pool of $45m across several games.
It is an initiative that has seen the region invest heavily in gaming thanks in part from a government looking to invest in the next generation of esports players, developers, and gamers.
Esports in the Middle East
Moreover, the Middle East has become an attractive market for global gaming giants, with many setting up regional headquarters and making significant investments.
This is a clear indication of the region’s prominence in the gaming sector, cementing its position as a leader rather than a follower.
While Saudi Arabia’s gaming industry was valued over $1b in 2021, experts project it could skyrocket to $6.8bn by 2030.
Such growth has attracted companies to create digital content and fan experiences at esports events, further enriching the region’s gaming ecosystem.
Elsewhere in the rest of the world, despite its impressive growth, many industry analysts believe there are signs it is slowing down.
“The global gaming industry has seen a slowdown in growth in recent years, but there are still signs of strong activity,” said Kevin Harvey, co-founder of Batal Gaming, the region’s first on demand esports matchmaking platform.
He added: “If we take Twitch for example, the most popular platform where esport events are broadcasted – has reported an increase in revenue of 128 per cent between 2019 and 2022, and the number of hours watched on the platform increased by 104 per cent.
“This suggests that the gaming industry is still growing, albeit at a slower pace to the accelerated growth experienced during the pandemic.”
The gaming and esports industry in the Middle East is growing.
“In the past five years, the region has seen several major developments, from game servers being built, to the formation of governmental esport federations and the hosting of international events like BLAST in Abu Dhabi or fresh new gaming events like Gamer8 in Riyadh,” Harvey said.
The gaming start up founder said that professional scale Esports organisations operate a model that is still extremely new, in an industry that is still learning the best ways to monetise its audience and finding viewership.
“Traditional sports generate enormous amounts of money from media rights deals whereby esports is primarily consumed on free to watch platforms like YouTube and Twitch.
“In the short term, esports organisations should position themselves as gaming, lifestyle, and media brands. In the long term, they need to focus on a direct-to-consumer model for competition viewership.
“Most importantly, esports organisations need to stay community focused. The community got them to where they are today and if they keep their community involved over time, they will be able to monetise them more and more.”
Harvey said Batal Gaming’s mission is to bring esports to the masses, catering to enthusiasts of all skill levels and incentivising players to play their favourite video games for a chance to win prizes in a fair and regulated environment.
“The current offering in the market is large-scale tournaments that do not result in the best user experience, these tournaments can be time consuming and often bunch up users of different skill levels creating the same winners over and over again.
“Batal Gaming matches individual users on demand based on their skill level allowing for a superior gaming experience for all.
“To continue staying ahead of the curve we always listen to our community and provide a user experience second to none.
“What works for a gamer in KSA does not necessarily work for a gamer in Egypt. Through strategic partnerships we are able to serve gamers from 15 different countries across the region.”
He noted that as the community grows, Batal Gaming will evolve to become the ultimate esports entertainment hub for the region.
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