Leading Google experts, seasoned gamers, investors, and the best local talent are anticipated to congregate under one roof for the summit.
Google declared that the first Google MENA Gaming Summit would take place in Riyadh by the end of 2023. Leading Google experts, seasoned gamers, investors, and the best local talent are anticipated to congregate under one roof for the summit.
According to reports, it will help develop the ecosystem by concentrating on market trends, updates, and best practises for Google Play, Ads, YouTube, and Cloud.
“We hope that through these programmes and the upcoming Google MENA Gaming Summit, we can help create more opportunities for the gaming industry to come together and contribute to the growth of Saudi Arabia’s gaming industry and local gaming talent,” Nakache wrote in a blog post.
Google, a major American technology company, has also announced the beginning of training initiatives to support Saudi Arabia’s gaming talent.
In a blog post, Google MENA Managing Director Anthony Nakache said, “We’re excited to announce new capacity building programmes for the next generation of gaming talent in Saudi Arabia, whether game developers, students, content creators, or Esports players.”
The Saudi Esports Federation and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia will work together to host the event.
The Saudi Crown Prince unveiled a plan to grow the nation’s gaming and esports industry last year, with the goal of generating 39,000 jobs and increasing GDP by $13.3 billion (50 billion riyals) by 2030.
By encouraging more Saudis to pursue careers in professional gaming, the Kingdom hopes to rank among the top three nations with the greatest number of esports competitors.
In a panel discussion at the FII Priority summit in Miami in May, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, the chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation, emphasised the positive aspects of gaming, its rising popularity in Saudi Arabia, and how it is creating new career paths for the younger generation.
He talked about the transition from pay-to-play to free-to-play business models and the emergence of new technologies that allow players to make money.
“The core of international popular culture is gaming. Additionally, it’s the most popular form of entertainment for Gen-Z worldwide. In Saudi Arabia, where gaming culture is thriving, we observe a similar trend, Nakache wrote in the post.
The programmes are as follows, with best practises for distribution, monetization, marketing, and fundraising included:
University students
Starting in September 2023, 250 university students will be able to enrol in training programmes offered by Google and its partners in Ahsa, Abha, Dammam, Jeddah, and Riyadh.
The course discusses business tactics, career opportunities in the gaming industry, Google Ads monetization, distribution best practises on Play, cloud storage, and the YouTube video streaming platform.
Game developers
In collaboration with the IGNITE! Initiative, Google will offer workshops on app growth using Google Ads and Play to 100 Saudi game developers. Through the Google for Startups Global Mentors community, participants will receive one-on-one mentoring from Google experts in entrepreneurship, fundraising, game development, design, monetization, and marketing.
Content creators, gamers
For 50 Saudi-based creators and Esports players attending the Saudi Esports Federation’s Gamers8 conference, YouTube will host a workshop with a focus on audience development, engagement with the YouTube gaming community, and optimization of gaming content and channels.
Women in gaming
YouTube announced that as part of the “Batala” programme to support female creators for women in Esports and content creators at Gamers8, it would host a special “Ana Batala” (I’m a hero) session.
A campaign to promote inclusivity and highlight the diversity of Saudi Arabia’s gaming industry is reportedly being developed by Google in partnership with STC Play, the gaming division and platform of Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC). This campaign will reportedly be released later this year.
Over 22.3 million gamers reside in Saudi Arabia, many of whom are qualified to turn their hobby or passion into a full-time job.
A recent YouTube-funded study discovered that Saudi Arabian recruiters highly value gaming-related skills. More than 87 percent of hiring managers are more likely to choose a candidate who enjoys playing video games and can discuss the skills they have developed through gaming.
Problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and strategic thinking are a few of these abilities.