After oil, the Saudis want to become the kings of video games and e-sport

Saudi Arabia is increasing XXL investments in the sector. But he is not the only one. Morocco also intends to become the benchmark for video games on the African continent.

This is not a mirage or a fad. This summer, Saudi Arabia will organize the first e-sports world cup. The winners will share a staggering prize pool of $60 million, enough to spark global enthusiasm.

The crown prince and future king of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, loves video games, a true passion of his since childhood. And the prince intends to make Arabia the international hub of a sector that is all the rage among young people. The Saudi investment fund, PIF, has already bought American production studios, and even hopes to produce a console game locally by 2030.

The idea is to diversify the national economy away from all oil. $38 billion in investment has been planned in the video games and electronic sports sector, resulting in the creation of nearly 40,000 jobs. The objective is to reach 1% of the national GDP in 2030. Developing electronic sport is also a tool of soft power, of power of influence, to promote a new image of the kingdom in order to forget the very criticized by human rights NGOs in Saudi Arabia.

Another Arab country also has great ambitions in video games and e-sport: Morocco. The country does not have the financial weight of Arabia but intends to become the reference in this sector on the African continent. The kingdom, which has four million players, is behind the creation last year of the African Electronic Sports Confederation, based in Casablanca.

Morocco already organizes competitions, such as the electronic football championship, presented as the first to take place on the African continent. A video games fair has just been held this weekend in Rabat. It brought together program creators, start-ups and even equipment suppliers.

A sign of the rapid development of this new industry, the Moroccan authorities plan to invest 24 million euros for the construction of the “Rabat Gaming City”, the gaming city of Rabat. A project, which, according to its promoters, should start next September.