The gaming industry has seen exponential growth in the last two years. The pandemic has given a boost to the gaming industry. Do you want to know why? This is because at the time of lockdown when people are restricted to their homes, they spend their leisure time at home playing games. After the pandemic, many organizations in Europe have sold their business premises and implemented work from home policy. Therefore, when people stayed at home and worked all day. They played games to refresh their minds leading to phenomenal growth in the gaming industry. The revenues of games vary from country to country.Â
Therefore, some Asian countries along with European countries and the US have made their place in the top 10 gaming markets of the world.  Another important region that you cannot ignore is the MENA region. MENA stands for Middle East North Africa. It is considered the hub of gaming markets. Many countries lie in this region. To tap into these lucrative markets, you must take the assistance of video game translation services. This is because people like to play games that are provided to them in the language that they understand.
MENA Countries
MENA countries are also known as WANA, West Asia, and North Africa. Let’s have a look at these countries.
- Yemen
- United Arab Emirates
- Tunisia
- Syria
- Saudi Arabia
- Qatar
- Oman
- Morocco
- Malta
- Libya
- Lebanon
- Kuwait
- Jordan
- Israel
- Iraq
- Iran
- Egypt
- Djibouti
- Bahrain
- Algeria
6% of the world’s population resides in this region. The population of these countries may sound small but people living in these countries play games with enthusiasm. The Statistics for 2021 show that the growth in the Middle East gaming market was threefold. Thus it provides endless opportunities for your mobile game developers. For penetrating any of these countries, you must take the assistance of a professional translation agency. They will translate your games into the language that the target market understands.
Mobile Game Market in MENA
Do you know that league of legends, FIFA, PlayerUnknown,s Battlegrounds, and Fortnite are the games that are very papular with the MENA gaming audiences? To your surprise, half of the region,s population is under the age of 25, and the basic form of their entertainment is gaming. Let’s have a look at three of the main markets.
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, revenue in the mobile game segment is projected to reach US$1.59bn this year. This revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 7.18% resulting in the projected market volume of US$2.09bn by 2027. In the mobile game segment, the number of users is expected to reach 6.1m by the end of 2027.
If we compare the statistics of Saudi Arabia with China then it is expected the most revenue will be generated in China (US$97,350.00m in 2023). Even Saudi Arabia is a lucrative market for game developers that want to release their games in Saudi Arabia. The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. Therefore, you must take the assistance of Arabic translation services before releasing your game in Saudi Arabia.
Egypt
Gaming is very popular in Egypt because of its growing population. It provides ample opportunities for game developers, they must realize. It has a population of 102.88 million people making it the largest country in MENA.
Revenue from video games is projected to reach US$842.90m in 2023. It shows an annual growth rate of 7.77%. This growth rate is projected to take the market volume by US $1,137.00m by 2027. As far as video games are concerned, the number of users is expected to reach 44.8m by 2027. Thus to avail of this opportunity, video game translation is the key to success for game developers and publishers. The average revenue per user (ARPU) in the Video Games segment is projected to reach US$23.06 in 2023.
Esports is also gaining popularity in Egypt. The country has hosted many tournaments like the Insomnia gaming festival and the Egyptian teams have won these matches. Fortnite and Counter-Strike have gained enormous popularity among amateur esports gamers, and Egyptian professionals and video games are very papular in Egypt.
How to Successfully Expand Your Mobile Game into MENA
Because of gaming interest and audience surge in MENA, the region is investing in e-sports. Moreover, game publishers are investing in the MENA countries. If you want to invest in this region then you must take the assistance of a translation company.
First, with strategic telecom infrastructure, you have to increase your audience with expanded player pools. The success of the gaming industry lies in localizing mobile games to Arabic.
Wrapping Up
Companies that want to expand into MENA must translate mobile games from English into Arabic. It can make entry to the MENA region easy. Moreover, it will also help the developers accommodate the market,s cultural and linguistic needs. Translating and localizing a game means molding the game according to the preferences of the players. Moreover, First, check the target language of avid players and then go for translation and localization services.
