Marvellous Mena
Tag: Saudi Arabia
New Partnerships
Merak Capital signs MoU with HP to boost Saudi Arabia’s games and esports economy
New Partnerships
Saudi Esports Federation and Merak Capital sign MoU to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s games and esports sector
Page 1 of 2
Next »
Funding News
Superbullet Studios secures $300k to scale Roblox game development
Funding will fuel marketing for flagship title SuperbulletAI, production scaling, and team expansion
Marvellous Mena
Yalla Group joins the $1bn Arab companies club with a $1.23bn valuation
The Dubai-based firm is the only gaming and social platform on the billion-dollar list
Funding News
DaFluffs Games raises $300k to accelerate work on debut title Dungeon Blast
The Saudi startup will use the funding to expand its team and scale development
New Partnerships
Savvy Games Group signs MoU with Al Jouf’s strategic office to develop games and esports
Savvy and JSDO will co-organise events to attract gamers and esports fans to the region
Funding News
Sheba Joy raises $293,000 in pre-seed funding to scale operations from Saudi Arabia
Funding will expand production, attract top talent, and drive development of new titles
Investment News
Impact46 invests over $53m in Saudi games studio Kammelna
The studio is best known for bringing the Kingdom’s iconic card game Baloot to mobile
Funding News
Spoilz raises fresh funding to expand its development and live ops capabilities
Investment will fuel globally competitive mobile games and attract top Saudi talent.
Winners Revealed
Savvy Games Group and HP conclude GameOn GameJam with winning teams revealed
Winners to join Savvy Academy’s three-month Incubator Program in collaboration with Xsolla
Investment News
Impact46 invests $6.7m in five Saudi game studios
Investments align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and National Gaming Strategy
Studio Closure
Sandsoft shuts down Riyadh and Barcelona studios
The Saudi mobile company moves to double down on publishing
Marvellous Mena
MENA-3 games market set to reach $2.8bn by 2029
A Niko Partners report found that the region had 72 million gamers at the end of 2024
Expansions
Side signs deal with Savvy Games Group to open Riyadh office
Firm plans to not only support Savvy’s initiatives but also launch its own training programmes in Saudi Arabia
Esports World Cup
Esports World Cup 2025 begins in Riyadh with record $70m prize pool
Of the prize pool, $27m will be spread across the top 16 clubs while this year’s winner will earn $7m
Annivasery
“We're not just building games, we're building habits”
UMX Studio CEO Ali Alharbi on the developer's 11th anniversary, studio growth, Jetapult funding and lessons learned
New Office
Savvy Games Group opens first permanent HQ in Riyadh
New HQ now houses both Steer Studios and Mirai, bringing them under one roof
Accelerator Program
Saudi Arabia’s NEOM to welcome 10 studios for largest Level Up accelerator cohort
Initiative designed for teams that have developed a minimum viable product or a vertical slice of their game
Game Jam
Savvy Games Group and HP launch climate-themed Game Jam in Saudi Arabia
The top three teams will then join the Savvy Incubator program in September
Mena Month
How Savvy aims to grow its games empire after $3.5bn Niantic deal
PocketGamer.biz speaks to CEO Brian Ward about buying the Pokémon Go developer Niantic, how it works with Scopely, and its plans outside of mobile
Acquisition Accomplished
Scopely acquires Pokémon Go developer Niantic's games business in $3.5bn deal
Blockbuster deal brings the multi-billion-dollar hit mobile game under the Savvy Games Group umbrella
Funding News
Saudi Arabia's Lobah Game Studio secures $12 million investment
Company will use the funds to accelerate development of its upcoming games
Mena Region
Saudi Social Development Bank backs esports and game development with $122m
The expanded financing portfolio has supported over 30 clients across esports, game development and publishing
Big Deal
Niantic reportedly in talks to sell Pokémon Go and games business to Scopely for $3.5bn
The deal isn’t finalised, according to people familiar with the matter, but could be officially announced "in coming weeks"
Esports In Mena
Olympic Esports Games in Saudi Arabia delayed to 2027
The IOC did not provide a reason for the delay, but confirmed that qualification will begin this year
New Studio
Monopoly Go developer Scopely opens new studio in Saudi Arabia
The new division, called Mirai, is led by industry veteran Charity Joy
Funding For Games
Merak Capital launches $80 million fund to support MENA games start-ups
The accelerator consists of a brief virtual bootcamp, followed by a 14 to 16 week core program
Mena Market
MENA start-up investments decline 52% to $134 million in October
UAE start-ups raised $61.8m across 15 deals, while Saudi Arabia-based start-ups secured $50m from over 21 deals
Mena's Rising Star
How government investment is fueling rapid growth in the MENA region
The fast-growing market is levelling up its gaming ecosystems and development talent
Marvellous Mena
Table Knight Games' co-founder Ghada A. AlHudaithi talks MENA challenges, company expansion and exploring new genres
"There has been a lot of vast opportunities for funding and support from Saudi Arabia and other venture capitals in the MENA region"
Investment News
UMX Studio secures $4.5 million investment from Jetapult to expand portfolio
Funding will "accelerate" developer's expansion in Saudi Arabia
Mixed Messaging
Saudi Arabia cuts Nintendo stake despite suggestions it could increase it
As of June, Saudi Arabia's PIF owned 8.58% of Nintendo, which is now down to 7.54%
Recruitment Drive
Savvy Games Group plots 600 new games industry jobs in Saudi Arabia
State-backed company opens up on strategy to grow local ecosystem and its global investments
Interview
"It is crucial that investors recognise the importance of investing in and believing in the local industry"
Raheebeen Studios founder Ahmed Alshaikh talks about the funding opportunities and efforts to support local developers in the KSA
Steering Strategy
Savvy's Steer Studios expands into console development
The company began building up its new division at the start of the year
International Expansion
Chinese publisher iDreamSky opens office in Riyadh for first international expansion
iDreamSky president and co-founder tells PocketGamer.biz the MENA region is an exciting new opportunity in the face of other saturated markets
Web3 Gaming
Animoca Brands and KACST to launch Web3 Hub in Saudi Arabia
The partnership and the Web3 Hub will include collaborative research in Web3, blockchain, gaming, AI, and the metaverse
Esports World Cup
Honor of Kings Midseason Invitational to feature at Esports World Cup
To celebrate the event, Esports World Cup and Honor of Kings will launch an exclusive in-game skin for fans.
Saudi Foresight
Animoca Brands partners with Saudi Arabia in $50M deal to bring Web3 to NEOM
The future of NEOM just got a Web3 update
Now In Neom
Maysalward is supporting young NEOM talent with new Game Dev Challenge
Mobile Game Legend Nour Khrais leads his studio in supporting new talent aged 15 to 17
Investment
Saudi stakes a $50 billion+ claim in the gaming world - Nintendo, Activision, EA & more
Move over Tencent, Savvy Games and the PIF are THE new market makers in the global games portfolio
Next World Forum
Next World Forum: Day Two - ESL Faceit Group, Saudi Esports Federation and more
As the conference draws to a close the big names depart and big business gets done
Events
Saudi Arabia's Next World Forum: Day One - Michael Bay, Omar Batterjee and Saudi esports
Saudi Arabia’s premiere tech conference, live from Riyadh kicks off in style
Mena Is Changing The Game
More than 65% of MENA gaming revenue comes from mobile
Boston Consulting Group’s latest Game Changer report emphasises the growing passion for gaming throughout the region
Big Festival
MENA and social gaming: What does it take to succeed in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets?
At BIG Festival, Nine66’s Ricardo Flores examined the growth of gaming throughout the MENA region
Executive Moves
CEO of Nine66, Kadri Harma, to return to venture capital
Harma has been CEO since late 2021
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news and discuss unexpected returns, making millions and losing them too…
New Investment
Saudi Arabia boosts stake in Electronic Arts by 55%
The country has been investing in game makers as part of its long-term economic strategy
Mena Investment
After securing Scopely for $4.9 billion, what could Saudi games giant Savvy splash its cash on next?
They may have made a sizeable acquisition this week but Savvy Games Group still has money to burn!