Why You Should Localize Your Video Game For The MENA Region

The MENA Region (the Middle East and North Africa), has shown spectacular growth in the gaming industry. And what’s more, it has been shown that the reasons for gaming are evolving as well. In his Motivations for Play,³³ Nick Yee discerned three main gaming motivations in the competitive streak, the social interactions, and, its immersive quality. And when we look at the current gaming behavior in the MENA Region, the social interactions and immersive quality, have proven to be highly important factors.

The MENA Region (the Middle East and North Africa), has shown spectacular growth in the gaming industry. And what’s more, it has been shown that the reasons for gaming are evolving as well. In his Motivations for Play,³³ Nick Yee discerned three main gaming motivations in the competitive streak, the social interactions, and, its immersive quality. And when we look at the current gaming behavior in the MENA Region, the social interactions and immersive quality, have proven to be highly important factors.

Official Languages Spoken in the MENA Region

Gaming In The MENA- Region In Numbers: The Recorded Growth

So, what does the MENA market actually look like and why can it be such a lucrative market to tap into? In 2017 Game Industry Platforms reported that the MENA Region was due a huge breakout.³⁵ And like recent reports³⁶ will show you, they were not wrong. Have a look at the graphs below. In 2017 the gaming revenue in the MENA regions was still registered at around 4 billion USD, while by 2020, this had grown to a healthy 5.4 billion. Similarly, the number of gamers had also increased by 41 million in the last 3 years. In fact, gaming giant Tencent³⁷ went as far as to say that by 2021, the MENA’s gaming revenue could breach the 6 billion mark.

Gaming Behavior in the MENA Region At a Glance

• Shooters and puzzles are the most enjoyed
• Candy Crush one of the all-time most played games, and Mobile Games, in general, are hugely popular
• Online Multiplayer games have gained a significant following not only as a pastime but as a way to connect with others.
• Both mobile and online game giants, such as Clash of Clans and Fortnite, have only recently been localized into the Arabic language. And yet they can already speak of immense success.

While desktop and console games remain a reliable platform for growth, mobile games, in particular, have been gaining traction. And this is hardly surprising. Our phones have grown from a useful utility to an extension of our hands. Research indicates³⁸ that in 2019 alone, over 2 million apps were available for download in the Google Play Store and that by the end of the year, mobile phone users had reached 4,68 billion. So, what does this mean for the MENA-region specifically?

Mobile Game Localization For MENA: The Biggest Opportunity

Mobile Availability and Penetration At A Glance

• Smartphone penetration is hitting appealing levels in a number of MENA countries. 46 percent of Saudi Arabian residents now own a smartphone, resulting in a generous number of 15.5 million people. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), this number reaches 80.6 percent.³⁹
• GSMA (Global Trade Body for Mobile network operators), counted⁴⁰ 375 million unique mobile subscribers across MENA Region in 2017. This number is expected to hit 459 million by 2025.
• As of 2019, in Saudi Arabia, the most profitable Arabic Speaking Market, Android accounts⁴¹ counts for 65.6 percent of used Operating Systems. iOS trails behind at 34.12 percent.
• In Jordan⁴² and the UAE⁴³, Android dominates the market with 84.65 and 77.34 percent respectively.

Why Mobile Games Are A Localization Goldmine

Back in 2018, CEO of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) Baris Ozistek, spoke to the Saudi Gazette⁴⁴, stating that the previous year, the MENA region secured 26% of the global mobile gaming market. What’s more, this number is expected to increase to reach a revenue of 2.3 billion by 2022, which would include almost half of MENA’s total gaming revenue.⁴⁵

The 2020 Digital Games Conference (DGC) in Dubai held this last June, made the potential for real market expansion opportunities all the greater. With the annual revenue growth already being apparently clear, the use of smartphones in the MENA Region doubled between 2014 and 2019, allowing games such as Candy Crush Saga to take no less than 930 million in revenue between August 2017 and July 2018.⁴⁶

Habib Chams, head of the DGC, added that Mobile Game top seller Clash of Clans has only recently been localized into the Arabic language. And yet they can already speak of immense success, especially in the MENA’s biggest gaming market, Saudi Arabia.⁴⁷

Pro Tip! Learn about the ins and outs of Mobile App Localization in our blog detailing the best practices from the client perspective.

While it is clear the market is more than ready to receive new concepts and ideas when effectively localized, there are still areas that need improvement. For example, despite being MENA’s highest growing and most widely spoken language, only 1 percent of the content in locale app stores, is available in Arabic.⁴⁸

This indicates that the demand for qualitative localization services is very high, and getting it right is of vital importance. Let us expand on this a little!