Forget about oil, the Middle East is chasing eSports fever

The global Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on industries such as tourism, services and oil. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had to take many measures to stabilize crude oil prices in the context of a sharp decline in world demand.

This situation forces the Middle East, which has the largest oil reserves in the world, to find another problem. The solution was quickly given, which is investment in electronic sports (eSports).

Cash flow into eSports in the Middle East has shown a strong increase since the end of 2019. So far, Activision has installed its own Call of Duty servers in two Saudi cities.

An increasing number of selected eSports tournaments are hosted in the Middle East.

At the same time, Riot Games also opened the Middle East server for popular eSports games such as League of Legends and Valorant in October. In December, a Kuwaiti telecom operator decided to form the Zain esports team. Esports and organizers of professional tournaments in the Middle East.

In its founding report, Zain showed promising figures such as gaming bandwidth has increased 300% since February 2020, the world’s highest growth rate of the game industry, and regional revenue. Europe, the Middle East and North Africa accounted for 23% of the global market.

Also in a country with a special geographical position like Turkey, eSports has been interested in developing early and is enjoying the fruits of this welcome shortcut. According to the Electronic Sports Federation of this country, Turkey currently has about 15,000 teams with more than 1,000 professional eSports organizations and 2,121 licensed players (175 people).

That is why Turkey has put into operation the largest eSports stadium in the region from January 2019 with a capacity of 1,600 people, 100 players competing on an area of ​​3,800 square meters.

Currently, Turkey is the leading country in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) with gaming revenue of 908 million USD, eSports viewership of 4.5 million out of 32 million gamers, ranking 18th. world.

Istanbul’s quick pace makes Dubai unable to stay out of the game. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is actively hosting many major tournaments in the world and the region in recent years.

The UAE also plans to build a gymnasium complex in the capital Abu Dhabi and a special stadium in Dubai.

Women’s esports has also been boosted in the Middle East. (in photo: The first female eSports team to be formed in the region)

In Saudi Arabia, eSports is being actively supported by Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, who is currently the president of the Arab Esports Federation and the Confederation of Intellectual and Electronic Sports. Saudi Arabic.

Prince Faisal bin Bandar’s vision is to bring the gaming industry to 0.8-1% of the Saudi economy by 2030, equivalent to $ 21.3 billion in revenue. Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that it will not consider including eSports in competition before the 2028 Olympics, Prince Faisal bin Bandar still has great faith in the sport.

“Professional eSports players make up only 1-2%, they are real athletes. I believe that eSports deserves to be part of the Olympic movement. This is truly the sport of the next generation.

The line between traditional sports and esports is blurring. I hope that will bring us under the Olympic flag soon, because every professional player we have, not only in Saudi Arabia but around the world, deserves it, ”said the prince. Faisal bin Bandar said in an interview in 2018.