Esports is growing at a fast rate in the Middle-East and the online gaming community is ballooning as well. This is an encouraging sign for interested investors who may want to invest in the industry. There are many factors that have contributed to the growth of this industry, such as the increased availability of internet connection in the Middle East.
Another huge contributor to the growth of esports was the lack of opportunity to watch real-life sports. During the pandemic, the lockdowns and preventive measures put up to curb the spread of the disease also caused real sporting events to either be cancelled or postponed. Thus, millions of sports enthusiasts and fans turned to esports to watch their favourite games. Moreover, many started wagering on their favourite teams and players through online betting platforms such as those on ArabiCasino.com. In fact, the number of bets that were placed on esports surpassed the records in 2019 and 2020.
The exponential growth attracted the interest of local investors in the region. For instance, Turkey opened a big esports venue in the world in 2019. Moreover, W. Ventures plans to invest a whopping $50 million to construct a huge gaming and esports structure in Dubai.
Moreover, esports includes many different types of games which have attracted a huge audience and players as well. The true professionals and casual fans have played a huge role in growing the industry. Other industry players such as the gaming companies have assisted the middle-eastern growth by building dedicated servers to cater to the growing demand. For instance, Riot Games and Activision have increased the server capacity for Valorant and Call of Duty respectively. Even telecommunication companies such as Zain Group in Kuwait started Zain esports to plan and organise tournaments and leagues.
Additionally, the growth of the smartphone and mobile industry in the region has led to the success of virtual gaming. For instance, many gamers use their phones to play video games and participate in online tournaments.
Influential public figures such as Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Bandar, who is the president of SAFEIS, is also an active video game player. He has worked hard to make esports an international sporting event like the other sports. In fact, he wants esports to be included in the Olympic games. The esports industry is slowly moving towards becoming global and the community of esports gamblers, players and fans will become international in the near future.
The future of esports is bright. The many avid fans, dedicated players, interested investors and other industry players may work together to make esports an international sporting event worthy of being included in international sporting events like the Olympics. Moreover, the advancement in technology and networks such as the diffusion of 5G networks will only positively affect esports.
