What you’ll learn from this report:
This is Niko Partners’ second annual report covering the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region. The MENA games market has quickly emerged as a key growth region for the global video game industry.
To provide a representative overview of Arabic speaking markets, the report focuses on what we call the MENA-3: Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt. The report includes a comprehensive market model and 5-year forecast through 2026 by games segment, key data on game publishers, games rankings, growth drivers, and trends. This includes details on esports, product distribution, payments, financial transaction events, regulations, and qualitative and quantitative analysis on gamer demand, spending, and behavior, with gamer behavior based off a survey of 1,126 gamers across the three countries.
هذا التقرير متوفر باللغة الإنجليزية. إذا كنت مهتم بالحصول على نسخة باللغة العربية برجاء التواصل معنا.
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2023
$10,000

Key takeaways from the analysis:
- MENA-3 games revenue is estimated to be $1.8 billion in 2022 rising to $2.8 billion in 2026 at a 5-year CAGR of nearly 10%, and 56% higher than the value at the end of 2022
- MENA-3 gamers are estimated to number 67.4 million in 2022, rising to 87.3 million in 2026 at a 5-year CAGR of nearly 6% indicating ARPU will rise over time
- Egypt has the largest gaming population and is the fastest growing market in the MENA-3 region. Saudi Arabia is the largest market by games revenue and is considered the gaming powerhouse of the region, while the UAE has the highest ARPU of the three markets
- Growth will be driven by mobile gaming, public and private sector investment and esports, and likely to catapult the region alongside global esports giants such as Singapore and China
- 76% of gamers in the MENA-3 region are under the age of 35, with Egypt having a significantly higher percentage of gamers under 25 years old—who are considered digital natives—compared to Saudi Arabia and UAE
- 73% of gamers in MENA-3 engage with esports in some capacity such as watching esports content, playing esports games or competing in amateur or professional tournaments
What’s included:
- A comprehensive market model and 5-year forecast through 2026 by games segment
- Qualitative and quantitative analysis on gamer demand, behavior, and usage for mobile, PC, and console games, hardware, and accessories
- Growth drivers and trends
- Spotlights on Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt
- Top games and game rankings
- Game publishers
- Gamer demand, spending, influences, and behavior
- Distribution
- Payments
- Esports
- Hardware and accessories
- M&A activity
- Internet cafes
- Regulations
- 101 slides
- 34 exhibits
Report contents:
- Report Highlights
- Video Games & Esports Overview
- Market Model Overview
- Regional Overview
- MENA-3 Market Model
- Growth Drivers
- Growth Inhibitors
- Saudi Arabia Overview
- Saudi Arabia 2022 Highlight
- Saudi Arabia Market Size and Forecast
- UAE Overview
- UAE 2022 Highlight
- UAE Market Size and Forecast
- Egypt Overview
- Egypt 2022 Highlight
- Egypt Market Size and Forecast
- Gamer Survey Demographics
- Gender & Age
- Job & Salary
- Gaming Time
- Mobile Games Market
- Overview
- Market Model
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Egypt
- Top Games
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Egypt
- Top Mobile Games Publishers
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Egypt
- Top Games and Genres
- Time Spent for Gaming
- Preferred Payment Method for IAP
- Purchase Influences
- Types of IAP Purchased
- Purchase Drivers
- Preferred App for Game Downloads
- PC Games Market
- Overview
- Market Model
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Egypt
- Top Genres
- Time Spent for Gaming
- Preferred Payment Method for IAP
- Spending Behavior
- Purchase Drivers
- Purchase Influences
- Preferred Game Distribution Platform
- Console Games Market
- Overview
- Market Model
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Egypt
- Top Games
- Time Spent for Gaming
- Spending Behavior
- Type of Console Owned
- Internet Cafes
- Overview
- Visitation Frequency and Drivers
- Hours Spent Playing by Location
- Reasons for Internet Cafe Gaming
- Esports and Livestreaming
- Overview
- Growth Drivers
- Engagement with Esports
- Top Platforms for Gaming Content and Livestreaming
- Time Spent for Viewing Gaming Content and Livestreaming
- Hardware, Network and Technology
- Gaming Hardware, Network and Infrastructure
- Popular PC Brands
- Popular Smartphone Brands
- Cloud Gaming Experience
- Investment in New Technologies
- Interest in New Technologies
- Localization and Payments
- Localization and Culturalization in MENA-3
- Attitude towards Video Game Localization
- Attitude towards Online Gaming and Using Voice Chat
- Payment Options in MENA-3
- Regulations & M&A
- Saudi Arabia’s Regulatory Environment
- Game Approval Regulations in Saudi Arabia and UAE
- UAE’s Regulatory Environment
- Egypt’s Regulatory Environment
- M&A and Investment Activity in MENA-3 2021-2022
- Appendix (Methodology, Genre List and Glossary)
Companies mentioned in the report:
Asus
Acer
Activision Blizzard
Alienware
Amanotes
Amazon
American Express
Apple
AppLovin Corp
Bandai Namco
BME
BOOYAH
Capcom
Dell
Dream Games
Du Telecom
Electronic Arts
Electronic Gaming Development Company (EGDC)
Embracer Group
Epic Games
ESL
Etisalat by e&
FACEIT
Fujitsu
FunPlus
Galagtech
Galaxy Racer
Gameberry Labs
Gametion
Garena / Sea
GB Arena
Geekay
Honor
HP
Huawei
IGG
Infinix
Jawaker
Koei Tecmo
Kooapps
Krafton
Lenovo
LG
Lilith Games
Long Tech
Master Card
Meta
Miniclip (Sybo)
Mobily
Moon Active
MSI
NCSoft
Nexon
Nimo TV
Nintendo
Nokia
Noon
ONEMT
ONESOFT Global
Oppo
Orange
Outfit7
Playrix
PlayStation
Quint
Razer
Riot Games
River Games
Roblox Corp
ROG
Royex Metaverse
Samsung
Sand Soft Games
Savvy Games Group
Sawa Game
SayGames
SNK
Sony
Spoilz Games
STC
Stillfront Group
Suffescom Solutions
Supercell
Supersonic Studios
Take Two
Tamatem
Telecom Egypt
Tencent
The Tiny Digital Factory
Twitch
TwoFour54
Ubisoft
Unity
Valve (Steam)
Virgin Mobile
Vivo
Vodafone
Xiaomi
Yalla Technology
YouTube
Zain Telecom