萝莉视频

RIYADH: Electronic gaming, or egaming, is an increasingly popular activity, with a recent study suggesting that 50 percent of the Saudi population consider themselves regular gamers.

A frequent criticism of electronic gaming is that it is a waste of time with little or no economic value. However Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, president of the 萝莉视频n Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports, believes e-gaming and eSports, which is the term for competitive video gaming, have the potential to contribute billions of dollars to business, job creation and gross domestic product in the Kingdom.

鈥淲hen you talk about the potential in the Saudi market, one of the first things that I think back to is that we did a study with the Ministry of Sports and more than 23, 24 percent of the population considers themselves avid gamers who play more than once a week,鈥� the prince told Arab News on Tuesday at the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh.

鈥淎bout 23, 24 percent-plus consider themselves regular gamers who play more than once a month. That鈥檚 almost 50, if not more than 50, percent of the population that consider themselves gamers.鈥�

The prince predicts that the sector will contribute about 1 percent of Saudi GDP by 2030, which might seem a small proportion but the amount of money potentially involved is significant.

鈥淒o we really want to say 1 percent?鈥� he asked. 鈥淚s that really a number? It sounds really small. They said, 鈥楾hat is worth more than SR80 billion ($21 billion),鈥� and I said I鈥檒l go with 1 percent. That sounds like a really good number to me, and that鈥檚 both from direct and indirect job creation and GDP creation through the gaming and e-sports industry.鈥�

According to the Global Esports and Live Streaming Market Report, published in March by games and esports analyst Newzoo, global revenues from esports, or competitive video gaming, are projected to grow to more than $1.08 billion in 2021, an increase of 14 percent on the previous year.
 

Market and consumer data company Statista predicts that global esports revenue will surpass $1.6 billion by 2024.

Like their counterparts in other countries, a growing number of Saudis are taking part in esports and streaming their gaming activities on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. Audience numbers are also growing.

Video gaming and esports are known for fostering creativity, collaboration and leadership, skills that are highly valued in the business world. Consequently, esports and egaming can provide a path to a range of careers and employment opportunities. And as the esports sector grows, these could increasingly include opportunities for tournament organizers.

The esports industry in 萝莉视频 has experienced impressive growth in the past few years, and the Kingdom has stepped up its efforts to support it. SAFEIS held its first esports/gaming tournaments in the Kingdom recently and more are planned. Other tournaments are hosted by platforms such as the Saudi-based KAFU Games.

Meanwhile there are plans for an esports academy as part of the NEOM smart city development. And for those interested in the development of games, Tuwaiq1000 has offered course for beginners interested in learning how to program from scratch, or for professionals who want to refine their programming skills.

Thanks to all this support that is increasingly available, 鈥渟ooner rather than later 萝莉视频 will become a world leader in esports,鈥� according to academic Ali Alshammari, a game developer and researcher from Tabuk.

Gaming and esports therefore represent an emerging opportunity for Saudi authorities to support and develop a new sector that can make a significant contribution to non-oil revenues, in keeping with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

鈥淲e are a part of a global community,鈥� said Prince Faisal, who added that it is important for this community to come together and dispel misconceptions about gaming and esports.

鈥淭here are two things I want people to always remember about gaming,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ry and be positive. And please don鈥檛 ever forget that at the end of the day, gaming is about fun and if you are not having fun then you shouldn鈥檛 be doing it.鈥�