DUBAI, United Arab Emirates-Wednesday 26 August 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- A
rapidly growing eSports fandom in the United Arab Emirates is creating
new opportunities for the country’s young and tech-savvy gaming
population. In an indication of this trend, Gedget, a small firm that
sells products designed for gamers, has enjoyed a 60-percent increase in
sales within the last year alone.
The
rising popularity of eSports, both in the UAE and across the wider
Arabic-speaking world, has served to create exciting new opportunities
for many young, entrepreneurially-minded Emiratis. An innovative
UAE-based startup, Gedget, has been quick to seize the opportunity,
selling tens of thousands of products online to eSports enthusiasts all
over the world.
“The
surging interest in eSports has had a positive knock-on effect on other
sub-sectors within the wider gaming market,” Gedget founder Mohammad
Al-Kaabi said. “It has allowed me to turn my love of gaming into a
viable startup, which has seen sales growth of some 60 percent over the
course of the last year.”
‘The next big revenue growth engine’
According
to recent estimates, the eSports industry in the Middle East is now
worth a whopping $3 billion per year, with massive potential for further
growth in the short and medium term.
“ESports
is the next big revenue growth engine for entertainment entities,”
Saeed Sharaf, a board member of the World eSports Consortium, was
recently quoted as saying by Dubai’s Khaleej Times.
Knock-on effects
The region’s burgeoning love affair with eSports has not been lost on the UAE’s new generation of young entrepreneurs.
“The
rise of eSports has opened the way for people like me,” Al-Kaabi said.
“It has created new market niches and novel spikes in demand, especially
for products that cater specifically to gamers.”
With
an eye on the lucrative ‘geeks and gamers’ market, Al-Kaabi is now
successfully producing and marketing a range of gaming- and
eSports-related items on his website.
And
it’s not just about retail. Al-Kaabi also creates gaming and
eSports-related content for his Arabic-language YouTube channel (Uae Skills), which currently boasts more than 1.75 million subscribers from across the Middle East and beyond.
“The
growing appetite for gaming and eSports, both in the UAE and the Arab
world, has allowed me to become a digital influencer of sorts,” he said.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/52272529/en
Contacts
Kassem Mohammad
kassem@gedget.ae
0509209699
