Middle East, North Africa (MENA), & Turkish Game Markets
Middle East - North Africa - Turkey
An Overview of the MENA Game Market
Forbes deemed the Middle East as "a new leader in emerging markets," and its growing video game market is just one of its many industries to keep an eye on:
Local experts state that the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) is "home to the world's most active gaming community."
Gamers in the region accounted for $4 billion of total revenue in 2017 (over $1 billion on game software alone).
The MENA region's experts claim that the Middle East & North Africa's potential comes from the fact that "half of the population of nearly 400 million is younger than 25 years of age."
Gamers in the Gulf region have large purchasing power, compared to other countries (consisting of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).
Home to the world's HIGHEST
growth rate - 25%.
Download LAI Global Game Services & DFC Intelligence's MENA and Turkey infographic for use in professional and student presentations, papers, and articles.
Which Countries are Driving MENA's Game Market Growth?
Turkey accounts for over 60% of the region's game market.
In fact, Turkey alone is the 16th largest games market in the world.
Following Turkey, Saudi Arabia is the Middle East's largest gaming market. (You can read more about individual countries in our drilldown pages, with more specific facts and data.)
Turkey makes up 60% of
MENA's game market.
Why are the UAE & Saudi Arabia Driving MENA's Game Market?
Mobile game penetration rates.
As of 2017, the UAE ranked #1 for smartphone penetration ratesin the world, at 80.6%. (Comparatively, the United States ranks at #7 in the world, at just 69.3%.)
The mobile market is one of the region's largest gaming platforms. (See above.)
Online games are also growing exponentially, as the MENA region (and other emerging markets) continue to gain greater internet penetration.
As of 2017, the Middle East saw an internet penetration rate of nearly 60%. This number will continue to grow, as it wasn't long ago - back in 2013 - where roughly 40% of the region had internet access.
There is a market for eSports in the Middle East, but slower internet speeds make it difficult for local gamers to compete globally - a problem which local companies are working to solve.
Console games have long been an important platform in the Middle East and North Africa and, before the rise of mobile, was "the biggest revenue earner" in the MENA region back in 2014.
Online games are growing exponentially!
Why Should Game Developers Localize into Arabic?
Despite the Middle East's impressive gaming statistics and mobile penetration rates, companies outside the Middle East continue to underestimate the region's potential:
By sheer numbers, Arabic is one of the top 5 languages globally.
However, few game developers and publishers localize into Arabic.
This means, that unlike Western markets, the Arab game market is undersaturated, and gamers are clamoring for more game content in Arabic.
By focusing on the Middle East and Turkey, as well as localizing into Arabic and Turkish, South Korean company Netmarble quickly ranked 8th worldwide.
Unlike Western markets, MENA's gaming
marketplace is far from saturated.
In fact, Google even gave a talk in China in 2017 about how to localize and market mobile games for the MENA region:
Why Don't AAA Developers Localize for the Middle East?
They do!
EA & Ubisoft are targeting
Arab gamers.
Since 2011, EA localized FIFA games into Arabic (also featuring local teams and leagues) due to the region's massive gaming population and returns seen in the Middle East.
Ubisoft also set up its own studio in Abu Dhabi, to focus specifically on the Arabic speaking market.
Back in 2013, Assassin's Creed was released in the MENA/MEA region with Arabic subtitles.
A few Naughty Dog games in recent years, such as Uncharted 4: A Thief's End/Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, included Arabic voiceover and subtitle options.
Swedish-made The Division even got its own Arabic voiceover option, with great care given to the entire localization process. The full article on this process is worth a read!
By focusing solely on the Middle East & Turkish game markets, local player Peak Games quickly propeled itself to one of the top mobile gaming companies globally. (This presentation by Peak Games provides an excellent overview of why it's important to narrow your strategy on a market such as the Middle East.)
Plus, Dubai's IMG World indoor theme park has a partnership with Ubisoft to showcase the Assassin's Creed, Rabbids and Just Dance brands.
It is taking Western developers longer to see and act on MENA's market potential than local players, but you can expect to see even more game developers & publishers bringing games to the region in the future.
LAI's Interview with Lebanese Indie Studio, Game Cooks
Lebnan Nader discusses the video game market in the Middle East & creating culturally-based games. Check out the full interview on our blog!
LAI strives to keep game developers and publishers updated on key markets for localization. If you find any errors or have additional information to add, please let us know at info@laiggs.com.
LAI covers an overview of the video game markets in Latin America and the Middle East. (For an in depth look at the video game market in Latin America, read our regional and country-specific pages.)
Ubisoft opened the first game studio in the MENA region in Morocco back in 1998! Morocco was seen as an ideal entry point, as it is French-speaking.
Massive mobile gaming publisher, Gameloft, has long been localizing "all new games" into Arabic.
During 2017, the best performing mobile game in the Arab market was from China (Revenge of Sultans - انتقام السلاطين) but was a fully localized into culturally immersive experience across Arab history, customs and the Arabic language.
Chinese game companies are increasingly targeting gamers in the Middle East with their games.
Top Ways to Reach Gamers in the Middle East (MENA)
Localize into Arabic, Turkish (Turkey) and French (Egypt) - but don't just localize Arabic if you localize. Consider which type of Arabic would be best suited for your game. (LAI's game localization experts can help you with this.)
▷ Modern Standard Arabic sounds stiff and formal to Arab gamers. It's mostly used for radio, newspapers and lectures.
▷ The Syrian dialect is perceived to be more serious and therefore, well-suited for drama. Teletubbies was originally dubbed into Syrian Arabic and wasn't well-received until it was changed to classical Arabic.
▷ The Egyptian dialect is well-suited for comedy. Law & Order was first dubbed into Egyptian Arabic, to which viewers couldn't take the show seriously.
▷ The Lebanese dialect is well-suited for sitcoms. When Law & Order was instead dubbed into Lebanese Arabic, viewers lost interest. It wasn't until Syrian Arabic was used that the show resonated with viewers.
▷ Some game content that conflicts with local beliefs (i.e. alcohol references, sexual scenes, clothing, religious references and some violence) may result in your game not entering the Middle Eastern market. (Featured below is South Korean studio Netmarble's localized game Traveling Millionaire.)
Adapt game art and the UI, so each aspect of your game retains elements that resonate with local gamers. (Read Game Art Internationalization to learn more.)
▷ UI localization is especially important in Arabic due to the right-to-left nature of the language. Subsequently, gamers expect buttons to be placed differently than Western gamers do.
▷ In most cases, the UI should be entirely redesigned for game menus in Arabic. (The below image is from EA's Arabic localized, FIFA 2015.)
Work with specialists knowledgeable in regional tastes. (Pictured below is Lumba's Tribal Rivals.)
Learn about current trends and opportunities in global game markets.
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