MENA reports and market data
142 game industry reports, presentations and talks about mena from writers such as PocketGamer.biz, Deconstructor of Fun and Niko Partners, newest from 2026. Every document has a summary and key insights with the page they come from, and 376 charts and tables are extracted as data.
Key figures
The MENA-3 region (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE) generated $2.15 billion in 2025 and is expected to see the strongest ARPU growth, reaching $38 by 2030 despite potential geopolitical instability.
Niko Partners, 2026 · Market Model Reports: Asia & MENA, p. 4
The MENA region remains a growth outlier, expanding 6.9% year-over-year to reach a $5 billion market size, supported by a demographic where 70% of the population is under 30.
Shorooq Partners, 2023 · Gametech Report: Global & MENAP Outlook Q3 2023, p. 21
The MENA-3 region (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt) has a revised growth forecast of 6.4%, as economic challenges in Egypt and slowing mobile growth in Saudi Arabia temper the impact of government-led localization efforts.
Niko Partners, 2025 · Asian & MENA Markets: 2025 Half-Year Report, p. 3
The MENA-3 region (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt) generated $1.8 billion in revenue from 67.4 million gamers as of 2022, driven by a mobile-first ecosystem.
Niko Partners, 2023 · The MENA Games Market: From Sand to Stardom, p. 6
Documents
Questions Istanbul Founders Stopped Asking I Akin Babayigit, Arcadia Gaming Partners
The Turkish gaming ecosystem has evolved into a formidable global hub, driven by a culture of intense competition and a blueprint for success established by early pioneers like Peak Games.
- Success in the current mobile gaming market has shifted from simple innovation to superior execution, requiring mastery of platform algorithms like AppLovin and capital-intensive user acquisition.
- The Turkish gaming ecosystem, pioneered by companies like Peak Games, has matured into a global hub characterized by a Darwinian, high-intensity work culture that consistently produces unicorn-scale companies.
- Founders now face a significantly higher barrier to entry, necessitating exceptional data-driven judgment to maintain profitability in crowded genres such as match-three.
Market Model Reports: Asia & MENA
The 2026 Market Model Reports provide a comprehensive analysis of video game industry performance and growth projections across Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
- China’s video game market reached $51.8 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at a 2.9% CAGR to reach $59.8 billion by 2030.
- India is the fastest-growing market tracked, with 2025 revenue of $1.04 billion and a projected 11.2% CAGR through 2030, supported by a player base expected to reach 707 million.
- East Asia remains the region with the highest ARPU, though 2025 revenue declined 3.17% to $28.2 billion due to Japanese market stagnation and macroeconomic conditions.
Games & Interactive Salary & Satisfaction Survey: 2024/25
The global games and interactive industry is currently navigating a period of significant instability characterized by widespread redundancies and a pervasive cost-of-living crisis.
- The industry faces high labor volatility, with 28% of professionals reporting recent redundancies and 68% to 83% of the workforce actively seeking new employment.
- While 62% of studios project at least 5% growth in 2025, 35% of current professionals are considering exiting the sector due to instability and financial concerns.
- The global average salary in the industry is £74,091, though significant pay disparities persist across gender, seniority, and geography.
Scopely talks M&A, new publisher Arcade, yet more Epic news, Moonton, China and more
The mobile games industry is currently defined by aggressive consolidation, the rise of hybrid-casual publishing, and a strategic pivot toward direct-to-consumer monetization.
- Savvy Games Group, the Saudi-backed parent company of Scopely, is reportedly in talks to acquire Moonton for $6 billion.
- Scopely’s M&A strategy focuses on long-term investment rather than genre-specific portfolio filling, and the company has not ruled out future acquisitions of major assets like King despite declining to comment on specific speculation.
- Arcade, a new Dubai-backed hybrid-casual publisher with nine staff, is positioning itself to solve distribution and user acquisition bottlenecks as AI-assisted game development becomes increasingly commoditized.
Session: Unlocking MENA Gaming Growth Through Local Payment Methods - Faisal Al Bitar, Tamatem.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) gaming market represents a significant growth opportunity, currently valued at over $7 billion.
- The MENA gaming market is valued at over $7 billion with a young demographic of 500 million people, 67% of whom are under age 35.
- Developers can increase ARPU by 100% and improve checkout conversion rates by 30% by implementing localized payment solutions that cater to the region's high unbanked population.
- Adopting a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy allows developers to reduce transaction fees from the standard 30% down to as low as 5%.
GoldenEye and TimeSplitters creators return: “Maybe this isn’t what we should be doing”
The modern gaming industry is currently defined by a fundamental tension between the instability of large-scale production and the enduring dominance of legacy content.
- Over 50% of all current gaming activity is dedicated to titles that are at least six years old, highlighting the market's heavy reliance on legacy content.
- New game releases, excluding annualized sports franchises, are struggling to capture even 1% of the active player base.
- Major publishers are increasingly pivoting toward remakes and established live-service ecosystems to secure revenue as consumers prioritize massive backlogs over new, full-priced titles.
The 2025 Middle East App Growth Report
The Middle East mobile application market is currently outpacing global benchmarks, characterized by a 2.6 percent year-over-year increase in downloads and in-app purchase revenues surpassing 700 million dollars as of the second quarter of 2025.
- The Middle East mobile app market shows strong growth with a 2.6% year-over-year increase in downloads and Q2 2025 in-app purchase revenues exceeding $700 million.
- AI-powered software applications are a primary growth driver, recording a 77% surge in revenue.
- Over one-third of mobile marketing professionals in the region now utilize AI tools to optimize performance and accelerate creative production.
Session: Seizing The Mobile Market Shift: Why Act Now - Gokce Kozandagi, Xsolla.
The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a fundamental structural shift, moving away from total reliance on traditional platform-controlled payment ecosystems toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) models.
- The mobile gaming industry is shifting toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) models to bypass platform fees, a transition accelerated by legal rulings starting in May 2025 that permit external payment links.
- Implementing a web shop can generate a 65% revenue uplift, which doubles when integrated with in-game buy buttons, allowing studios to recapture the 20% to 30% of revenue typically lost to platform fees.
- The web shop market is currently valued at $16 billion, with data showing a 40% conversion rate for first-time visitors and an 80% repeat-purchase rate among new buyers.
Why is Google policing how the world's top mobile games monetise? | Week in Mobile Games podcast E72
Google and Epic Games have proposed a tiered fee structure for the Play Store that distinguishes between cosmetic items, taxed at 9%, and gameplay-advantage items, taxed at 20%.
- Google and Epic Games have proposed a tiered Play Store fee structure that charges 9% for cosmetic items and 20% for items providing gameplay advantages.
- An analysis of the top 50 mobile games shows that every title currently employs monetization mechanics, such as loot boxes or boosters, that would trigger the higher 20% fee.
- Direct-to-consumer revenue streams are gaining traction, evidenced by Playtika reporting 20% growth in this sector during the third quarter through strategic entertainment brand partnerships.
How to publish, localise, and develop games in MENA - Sohaib Thiab from Tamatem
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region represents a rapidly evolving mobile gaming market that requires nuanced localization and infrastructure strategies to succeed.
- The MENA region requires more than simple translation; effective localization must account for the Arabic language's complexity (30 million+ words) and strict cultural sensitivities, such as the exclusion of alcohol-related content.
- Payment processing is a major barrier in the MENA market, as many users are unbanked or prefer local payment methods over credit cards, necessitating platforms like Tamatem Plus to facilitate monetization.
- Social and multiplayer games, particularly digitized versions of traditional tabletop games like Belote, perform exceptionally well in the region because they mirror popular offline social activities.
8 Trends That Will Redefine Gaming in Asia (and Beyond)
The gaming landscape across Asia and the Middle East is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by evolving regulatory frameworks, shifting consumer behaviors, and a move toward decentralized distribution models.
- India’s gaming market is projected to reach 750 million gamers by 2029, necessitating a shift from simple translation to deep hyper-localization and culturally resonant content.
- Alternative distribution channels now account for nearly 37% of mobile revenue in Southeast Asia, driven by lower transaction costs and the widespread use of localized digital wallets.
- China’s regulatory environment is becoming more supportive for international developers through government subsidies and new pilot programs, despite ongoing restrictions on youth gameplay.
Middle East & Africa Gaming Review 2025
The Middle East and Africa gaming landscape is poised for rapid expansion, with market value projected to rise from US $7.4 billion in 2024 to over US $19.4 billion by 2033, reflecting an 11% CAGR driven largely by mobile-first adoption and a vibrant startup ecosystem.
- The Middle East and Africa gaming market is projected to grow from $7.4 billion in 2024 to over $19.4 billion by 2033, representing an 11% CAGR driven by mobile-first adoption.
- Investment is highly concentrated, with Israel leading at nearly $1 billion raised across 146 startups, followed by Turkey at $961 million and Nigeria at $371 million.
- Turkey has established itself as a 'unicorn factory' through major deals, including Peak Games’ $1.8 billion acquisition and Dream Games’ $2.6 billion capital raise.