eSports in the Middle East has been big. It’s tied to video gaming at its core, but the fact that more and more people want to play games competitively has made for some paradigm-shifting moments. The gaming landscape in the region has changed dramatically over the past decade and so has the technology that powers gaming experiences in the Middle East.
Of course, talking about ground-breaking technology that has completely altered esports is a bit premature, but the fact is there have been some noticeable consumer trends that define the current landscape of gamers and esports enthusiasts in the region.
Growth of Gaming Phones
Throughout the world, mobile gaming has become a huge market for developers. This trend is no different in the Middle East region. Smartphones used to be just app storages, but the hardware has evolved to accommodate a string of games, with powerful CPU and ram units now matching some 2000s computers. Today, you can play a number of mobile games in the Middle East, including:
- PUBG
- Fortnite
- Call of Duty
- Pokémon
- Garena Free Fire
In a word, there are plenty of superb games you can try on your own time and play competitively if you love a challenge. However, to run these games smoothly, the need for better technology has emerged. An approximate 100 million people play mobile video games and esports titles in the Middle East region.
This has prompted developers such as Razer and Asus to really roll their sleeves up and ensure that there is a constant stream of adequate technological solutions that allow consumers to enjoy gaming from bonafide mobile phones.
In fact, many mobile gamers go after Arabic eSports games in the Middle East, and there are plenty of such games to enjoy. All of the above games are actually considered esports titles. Those are video games with official, salaried competitions.
There are tons of new games entering right now. Even though the Middle East isn’t big on mobile MOBAs, these games are already arriving in droves. The biggest competitions in the region are Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends Bang Bang, and Wild Rift, but here’s the kicker – they are only getting started, with the infrastructures behind each competitive mobile MOBA just now developing.
New Consoles Making the Market
Mobile gaming is not the only trend that is shaping the technological landscape in the Middle East. As it turns out, players from the region are actually quite fond of console gaming as well and there is really no shame in that.
Consoles used to be a niche market mainly targeting people in Japan and the West, but things have changed a lot and the market entry of handheld devices by Nintendo and Sony has paved the way for new mediums of play.
Demand for new gaming experiences, including esports, has quickly made companies such as Sony and Xbox aware that in order to stay competitive, they need to optimize their manufacturing processes in a way that safeguards quality but makes consoles more readily available (and affordable) for players in emerging gaming and esports markets.
The sales in the Middle East so far as consoles go are pretty impressive with Nintendo DS registering 850,000 sold units in the region, followed by Sony PlayStation 3 with 450,000 and Nintendo Wii, 315,000. Interestingly, Xbox 360 only comes fourth. Of course, this statistic is a little dated, but it clearly delineates people’s preferences in the console market.
VR and AR Are the Next Big Thing
While esports is not focusing too heavily on virtual reality and augmented reality right now, it’s safe to say that these two developments will guide the Middle East region’s interest in new gaming experiences in the decades to follow.
Players in the Middle East already have many excellent options to pick from in the form of cheap(er) virtual reality headsets, and the game variety is definitely there. Online gaming stores such as Steam are truly exciting as they already pack a lot of neat games that are available in VR.
Of course, the Middle East region is a place that is not easily defined and you can imagine that gaming trends will change a whole lot. The good news is that esports is really taking off and this means interest in the activity will continue to soar and improve as days go by.
eSports itself isn’t the driver of huge technological changes, but competitive gaming titles do require better hardware and setups, and that in turn makes it possible to see significant improvements in gaming.