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Gaming

Gaming and e-sports news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Men queue for tickets at a lottery stand in Turkey. The UAE Lottery has a weekly jackpot of AED100m

UAE Lottery operator in talks to sell tickets in shops

The UAE Lottery’s operator is in talks to sell tickets in shops across the country. The weekly draw and spin-off games were launched in December, for online play only. Bishop Woosley, director of lottery operations at The Game, which manages the draw, said discussions had been held with retailers to allow ticket sales as early […]

A Nintendo store in New York. Nintendo's profit dropped 60 percent year on year to $685 million from April to September 2024

PIF continues to trim stake in Japan’s Nintendo

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has further reduced its holding Japanese gaming company Nintendo. In the latest move, PIF cut its holding to 5.26 percent from 6.3 percent, the second reduction this month. The fund lowered its stake to 6.3 percent from 7.5 percent on November 13. The news comes despite comments […]

The Nintendo Switch is the company's bestselling product, having sold 143.4 million units worldwide PIF

PIF cuts stake in Nintendo as Switch sales slow

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has trimmed its holding in Nintendo, as the Japanese gaming company suffered a drop in sales for its biggest product. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund reduced its stake to 7.54 percent from 8.58 percent, according to a Japanese regulatory filing on Tuesday. The news of the cut comes just […]

Wynn Al Marjan Island is now expected to 'pre-open' in the first quarter of 2027 and cost $5.1 billion

Wynn Resorts says UAE site will earn $1bn in gaming revenue

Wynn Resorts estimates that gaming revenue from its forthcoming resort in Ras Al Khaimah will be between $1 billion and $1.66 billion, it revealed at an investor presentation. The range assumes a UAE market size of $3 billion to $5 billion and Wynn’s 33 percent share of it, based on two more integrated resorts eventually […]

Wynn licence

Wynn scores UAE’s first commercial gaming licence

Wynn Resorts, the US hospitality group, has won the first commercial gaming operator’s licence in the UAE. The company, which has its headquarters in Las Vegas, is building a $4 billion, 1,500-room resort on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, which is expected to open in 2027. The resort has now been licensed by […]

Clothing, Footwear, Shoe

PIF explores raising stakes in Japanese gaming companies 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is exploring increasing its stakes in Japanese gaming companies to develop the kingdom as a global centre for gaming. “There are always opportunities,” Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud, vice chairman of Savvy Games Group told Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency. PIF now owns 8.6 percent of Nintendo, after […]

An impression of Wynn Al Marjan Island resort in Ras Al Khaimah, which is slated to open in early 2027

MGM applies for UAE casino licence says CEO

US hospitality and entertainment group MGM Resorts has submitted a proposal to the UAE government to secure a casino operating licence, CEO Bill Hornbuckle has confirmed. “The way it will work is the federal government in Abu Dhabi will approve it, we’ve applied for it and hopefully we’ll win the licence there,” Hornbuckle said at […]

Saudi esports Savvy Games Video length: 05:07

Saudi Arabia plays the long game in a high-stakes market

Saudi Arabia has so far channeled $38 billion into the esports sector through its Public Investment Fund subsidiary Savvy Games Group. This includes high-profile acquisitions such as the $4.9 billion purchase of the Monopoly Go developer Scopely and the $1.5 billion buyout of ESL FaceIt Group, one of the world’s largest esports companies. Critics have […]

The casino floor of Wynn Las Vegas. The company's resort in the UAE is due to open in 2027

Wynn’s update on RAK casino has analysts abuzz

Wynn Resorts is to update investors next month on its plans for the UAE’s first casino, heightening analysts’ speculation about the company. The Las Vegas-based hospitality group is building a $4 billion, 1,500-room resort on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah.  The complex is expected to open in early 2027 and Wynn’s CEO Craig […]

Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud Video length: 04:08

Prince Faisal: growth, not profit, is focus for esports

Cost-intensive spectator events are not going to be a “serious profit generator”, Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud told AGBI, as Saudi Arabia concluded the first Esports World Cup last week.  The event was watched by more than 500 million people but Prince Faisal, president of the Arab Esports Federation, said: “In esports, sustainability is […]

The fountains of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The hotel brand is one of three being built by MGM in Dubai

MGM chief teases potential casino in Dubai

The chief executive of MGM Resorts International, a major operator of casinos, has hinted at the possibility of opening a branch in Dubai, buoyed by evolving gaming regulations in the UAE. William Joseph Hornbuckle was bullish on a recent announcement by the UAE authorities of a lottery licence, and said he viewed it as a […]

UAE lottery gaming

Lottery licence heralds UAE gaming industry growth

The issuance of the UAE’s first lottery licence and publication of a framework to regulate gaming looks set to kickstart the rapid development of the industry in the Gulf nation. The year-old federal General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) said over the weekend it had awarded Abu Dhabi-based The Game LLC the rights to operate […]

Saudi esports Falcons

Investment yet to turn a profit in Saudi esports drive

Saudi Arabia’s aggressive entry into esports, marked by the $60 million Esports World Cup and the successful bid to host the 2025 Olympic Esports Games, has grabbed global headlines. Yet a multitude of challenges to the commercialisation of esports could blunt the kingdom’s ambitions to become a global force within this thriving new industry. The […]

Boulevard City, Riyadh, where the first Esports World Cup will take place

Visas on offer as Esports World Cup hits Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is offering electronic visas for ticket holders for the first Esports World Cup, which starts next week at an entertainment district in Riyadh called Boulevard City. The event is being held over eight weeks from July 3. Around 1,500 players from 500 international clubs will compete for this year’s record total prize money […]

Saudi sport

Saudi sports push ‘winning global audiences’

Saudi sports investments are winning a global audience as the kingdom tries to overcome charges of “sport washing”, a major survey of media coverage said this month. Media analytics consultancy Carma found that coverage of human rights in Saudi Arabia fell in favour of “a sports-related narrative” around the world, including in the West. The […]

Electronics, Headphones, Adult Foreign investment in esports has been slowing but experts remain upbeat about the future of the market esports game gaming Saudi Arabia

World Cup’s brimming prize pot to revive Saudi esports

Saudi Arabia will offer a record-breaking $60 million prize pool for its upcoming Esports World Cup, at a time when the kingdom is facing challenges attracting foreign investments to the sector. The amount of prize money for this summer’s event breaks the previous record of $45 million set by esports festival Gamer8 in 2023. Saudi […]

Dubai rendered in the metaverse. Prices of virtual land plots peaked in 2022

The Mena metaverse: moving beyond the hype

Two years ago, the concept of metaverse lands transformed from an interesting subculture into a thriving multi-billion-dollar market, capturing the interest of major investors both regionally in the Middle East and globally.  Metaverse lands, made of pixels and digital images, refer to buildings and plots within a virtual environment, offering spaces for gaming, socialising, business […]

The number of customers playing digital games in Jordan expanded to just under 6 million in 2023

Jordan’s digital game spend at $82m in 2023

The total amount spent on digital games in Jordan reached $82.5 million in 2023, official data has revealed. Nearly $17 million was allocated to paid games while $7.3 million was spent on live in-game purchases, state-run Jordan News Agency said, quoting the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (Intaj). Mobile games commanded the largest […]

Visitors at the Leap Technology Conference in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia backs tech startup sector with $888m

Saudi Arabia has announced investments worth $888 million to support the local tech startup and venture capital sector. The funds will support industries such as digital payments, e-gaming and artificial intelligence (AI). The announcement was made on the second day of the Leap international technology conference taking place this week in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has […]

There are many steps from mining iron ore to a car rolling off the production line but Saudi Arabia plans to cover them all car being made manufacturing car EV electric vehicle

Saudi Arabia joins the dots from minerals to manufacturing

Consider for a moment how many different steps there are between digging a lump of iron ore out of the ground in Mauritania and pressing the starter button on a new electric vehicle (EV) in Riyadh. The ore must be mined, concentrated, combined with other elements, put through a furnace, a casting machine, cold- or […]