Crown Prince launches National Gaming, Esports Strategy

Photo of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the National Gaming and Esports Strategy, marking the beginning of a new era towards leading the gaming sector and making Saudi Arabia the global hub for this sector by 2030, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

This contributes to achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals for economic diversification, job creation in various sectors and provision of world-class entertainment activities for citizens, residents and visitors.

“The energy and creativity of Saudi youth and video game enthusiasts are key drivers of the National Gaming and Esports Strategy, which will fulfill the ambitions of the gaming community locally and globally through providing distinguished job opportunities, in a way that will render the Kingdom a global center for esports and gaming by 2030,” the Crown Prince said.

The new strategy features three main pillars with a direct impact on citizens, the private sector and the esports and gaming fans and professionals, as well as worldwide: boosting the quality of life through improving user experience and providing new entertainment opportunities, creating a direct and indirect economic impact by adding nearly SAR 50 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP and introducing more than 39,000 new direct and indirect jobs by 2030, while providing the proper environment for competencies.

It also aims to develop more than 30 competitive games globally at the Kingdom’s studios and to stand among the top three countries by the number of professional esports players.

The strategy will be implemented via 86 initiatives covering the entire value chain, to be launched by 20 state and private entities. This includes launching business incubators, hosting major events for video games and esports, establishing educational academies and developing stimulating regulations that ensure keeping pace with the rapid growth pace in this sector.

These initiatives are divided into eight focus areas, namely technology and hardware development, video game production, esports, additional services and other enabling axes that include infrastructure, regulations, education and talent acquisition, as well as financing and financial support.