| 28 Oct 2009 |
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Online gaming gains popularity in Middle East
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The number of payments for online games in the Middle East has rocketed from 100,000 a month in 2008 to 500,000 a month this year – and the majority of the transactions are taking place in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and the UAE.
But the online segment is still not a major part of the gaming market in the region, say industry players. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt are the primary markets because of their large populations.
Globally the market is estimated to be worth $36 billion (Dh132bn), with the online segment accounting for $6.8bn and expected to touch $13bn by 2011.
"We have witnessed a huge increase in the number of online game transactions this year in Mena," Muhannad Ebwini, General Manager of Saudi-based online transaction firm One Card, told Emirates Business.
"The growth of online games began in early 2008 as international publishers started venturing into the region. There has been 15 to 20-fold growth in the gaming arena."
Growth remains low in the UAE because of the large population of expatriates, many of whom are above the age of 25. "At least 51 per cent of the populations of Saudi Arabia and other countries such as Egypt and Kuwait are below 25," he said. "However, Dubai is doing well in the e-commerce segment."
Ebwini was speaking at the second Dubai World Game Expo. The three-day event, which began yesterday, includes the Dubai World Game Summit and the World Game Championship.
Tahadi Games, part of Al Jabbar Internet GroupJabbar Internet Group
, recently launched operations in the online gaming space and is taking part in the expo for the first time.Tahadi is the first release from Jabbar since its parent company Maktoob was acquired by Yahoo in August. Jabbar now consists of a number of Maktoob companies that were not part of the Yahoo deal.
"The online gaming segment is still small compared to global markets and is dominated by web browser games," said Tahadi CEO Steve Tsao.
"Compared to the number of internet users in China and the Philippines, there is growth potential in Mena as localised content is being made available in the region. The UAE is still adapting to foreign content as there is a lot of access to global games."
By Nancy Sudheer
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