São Paulo – The number of games startups in Saudi Arabia almost doubled to 24 in 2022 from 13 last year, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become one of the world’s major gaming centers, Arab News reported.
A report by Nine66, an integrated support system for game developers, said this growth was driven by incubation programs.
The report went on to add that most of Saudi game startups employ one to five, or six to 10, staff. However, only six companies employ more than 10 people. About 80% of those who have set up a game studio in Saudi Arabia said the experience was “relatively easy.”
Even though gaming is extremely popular in the region, there is a comparatively small number of studios compared to the 5,000 across Europe and more than 3,000 in the United States, the report said. However, the report stated that almost 84% of the respondents have linked up with other local developers at some point.
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The survey report interviewed 51 game developers from a mix of solo developers, mid-sized teams, and large companies between April and June. Respondents said financial risks, the lack of safety net, the lack of knowledge of how companies work, access to funding and lack of investors prevented them from establishing startups. The report stated that most developers have never tried to seek investment, with the most common reason being that they were not ready to pitch their games.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
