E-sports and gaming in the Middle East is very popular among the passionate youth residing in various parts in the region with around 125 million players globally! E-sports and e-gaming compared to any other sport, equally requires training and coaching for multiple hours on stretch as it is significantly one of the highest monetizing video games in the world carrying actual salaries!
Fortnite is one of the many games that have made a popular appearance in gamers’ lives. Being free of cost, built with a Battle Royale Format, cross-platform, relatable to all age groups with pop culture references and with live-streaming features, the game proves to be well-received by the e-gaming enthusiasts!
E-gaming in the Middle East has evolved within the past couple of years. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the size of their e-gaming market, holds the first place among the other Middle East regions! Being in the midst of the largest markets globally, Saudi Arabia has around 4.6 million active players who are bringing in a revenue of around 2.8 billion according to reports in 2018.
Reports in 2019 reveal the male to female ratio in Saudi’s e-gaming industry as 61.5% to 38.5%. It also stated the competing age groups to be among 25-24 years (32.4%) and 35-44 years (31.2%).
Al Bahraini National, Mariam Maher also known as ‘Mary Gaming’ to other players, is currently the youngest MENA-based gamers to be signed by NASR Esports, a professional gaming organization. While Ms. Maher grew up playing games with her cousins, which is a childhood highlight, the thought of it being a potential career opportunity was never present.
“At first, I really thought it would just be a hobby for me, but then when I saw other YouTubers playing tournaments, I thought, ‘I wanna become that’, you know?” she said to Cosmopolitan. She continued, “I started streaming and was getting really good feedback from people that kept watching me, then NASR approached me. They told me that I had a great potential, and with the right guidance they would help and support me with training.”
Mary isn’t threatened or taken back with the fact that she’s the only girl-gamer in a male dominated industry. “It doesn’t really matter to me being called a girl-gamer. There is a stereotype that if it’s a girl, it obviously means she plays bad. But girls are more than girls, we have so much potential.”, she expresses. Mary, in fact, wishes to recruit more women into the tech field and hopes that many more girl-gamers would step up and be a part of the gaming industry!
Read more about May Gaming in this Cosmopolotan Middle East Article
Being one of the leading Esports organizations in the Middle East and North Africa region, NASR Esports, is home to the most celebrated and acknowledged esports players playing across a wide range of platforms. Moreover, NASR also plays a very important role in managing and developing the careers of various players and teams including @ramy_saad, @FGC_angrybird, Fortnite, FIFA, Rainbow Six, League of Legends and much more!
The NASR Esports team has successfully established a name for themselves after winning accolades for over 300 tournaments across the world! A dedicated audience of around 80,000,000 gamers have kept NASR Esports constantly running!