Savvy Games Group wraps Saudi 'Play to Learn' competition with 719,000 students involved

• Students submitted over 155,000 educational game concepts during the five-month initiative.
• Roblox helped transform finalist concepts into playable game prototypes.
• The winning student project will be developed into a full Roblox Learning Hub experience.

Savvy Games Group and the Ministry of Education have concluded the first nationwide edition of the ‘Play to Learn’ competition for middle and high school students across Saudi Arabia

The five-month initiative ran across 7,705 public and private schools and involved 36,054 instructors, with students challenged to design original ideas for educational video games. 

Ten finalist teams were selected, with Saudi developers and Roblox helping transform the shortlisted ideas into playable prototypes.

The winning team, Glitch from Andalus High School in the Al-Jouf region, was recognised during a ceremony in Riyadh attended by senior government and industry officials, including Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward.

Continuous support 

Roblox will now support development of the winning concept into a fully realised experience for its Learning Hub platform, while Savvy said participating students will gain access to development tools including CreaDev.

The programme forms part of Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 ambitions to expand local games industry talent pipelines and strengthen the country’s gaming ecosystem.

“We’re thrilled to see such tremendous participation from both students and teachers, and the enthusiasm for games and game development across the Kingdom,” said Savvy Games Group chief of staff Amr Sager. 

“Game-based learning activities are an exciting avenue to help students develop new skills and consider professional opportunities in this rapidly growing industry.”

Earlier this month, we wrote about why the Savvy and Roblox deal hits differently in Saudi Arabia. 'Play to Learn' is that partnership put to work across the school system.