Digital entertainment is gradually replacing oil as the Middle East’s primary economic concern. The region used to be known for its oil reserves and fields, but in the past five years, the countries in the Middle East have been diversifying into gaming, entertainment, and travel.
By investing billions of dollars in global gaming companies, hosting esports tournaments, and developing digital hubs, countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar are leading the next Middle East economic revolution.
The casino industry in the Middle East still has a long way to go, but there is hope for its future. Currently, players in the region pick from the list of the best Arabic casinos available to them when they want to play. These international platforms make it easy for them by offering local payment options, Arabic-language support, and hundreds of games.
How Saudi Arabia is Leading The Middle East’s Gaming Shift
Saudi Arabia is leading the Middle East’s gaming industry, and through its investments and partnerships with global gaming companies, it is showing other regions how to attract investment from both local and foreign investors.
To fund its gaming ambitions, the Kingdom created the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) through which it plans to invest US$38 billion in esports and gaming. The Kingdom hopes that by 2030, both the gaming and esports sectors will contribute US$13.3 billion to its GDP, and provide 39,000 jobs through its National Esports and Gaming Strategy (NGES).
To reach this target, the Kingdom has also made strategic investments in global gaming companies. Recently, the PIF acquired global gaming company Electronic Arts (EA) in a US$55 billion deal. This deal is just one of the PIF’s investments in esports, entertainment, and gaming. The PIF has invested in Niantic, the company responsible for making Pokémon Go through its Savvy Games Group.
The PIF also owns the Evolution Championship Series while holding major shares in companies like Capcom, Nexon, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, and Take-Two Interactive.
Apart from investing in global gaming companies, Saudi Arabia also hosts some of the largest esports tournaments in the world. The Kingdom is committed to creating a pipeline that will encourage citizens to pursue jobs as top executives in the gaming industry, professional gamers, and hardware and software developers by hosting events like the Esports World Cup, which captures the interest of its young population.
With these investments, Saudi Arabia hopes to establish a self-sufficient gaming ecosystem where local talent can work in the gaming business as developers, players, and even investors.
Qatar: A Fast-Growing Gaming Market
Since hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022, Qatar has shown to the world that it is ready to play a key role in the global gaming sector, making it one of the Middle East’s fastest-growing gaming markets.
Earlier this year, Qatar held a pavilion at Gamescom 2025, the biggest gaming event in the world. At this event, it announced its plans to become a major gaming destination in the coming years. Qatar’s participation in Gamescom 2025 was sponsored by Invest Qatar, the state’s Investment Promotion Agency.
Invest Qatar recently announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tencent’s global games brand, Level Infinite. The MoU was signed at the Qatar Economic Forum, where both parties agreed to collaborate and use the available resources to expand the local gaming ecosystem and connect local players to international opportunities.
Dubai’s 2033 Gaming Programme
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has huge plans for its gaming industry, which it outlined in the Dubai Program for Gaming 2033 (DPG33). The DPG33 was launched in 2023, and it had one goal: to make Dubai a global gaming destination by 2033.
The DPG33 was also designed to boost Dubai’s gaming sector, attract foreign investors, create over 30,000 jobs, and contribute US$1 billion to the country’s GDP by 2033.
Since its launch, over 60 new gaming businesses have set up regional offices in Dubai, increasing the total number of gaming companies in Dubai to 350.
Over 260 of these companies are focused on game development, and Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, believes that the more companies move to Dubai, the brighter the future of its gaming industry.
Final Thoughts
Over 17% of the world’s gaming population lives in the Middle East. If the governments of Middle East countries can maintain their current investments and create better regulations, they may just lead the global gaming industry in the next decade.