Mobile gaming is, without a doubt, a top industry to keep an eye on. To get even more specific, MENA mobile gaming is a market that’s not only booming but also generous with opportunities. 

Looking back at the last couple of years, it’s interesting to see how the pandemic accelerated growth in the MENA mobile gaming space. The question now is: where will the industry be headed over the coming year?

It’s no secret that the MENA region accounts for a huge chunk of the global mobile games market. To put it into numbers, the Middle East makes up around 23% of the global market – that’s about one-fourth of the entire world’s mobile gaming industry, and growing. 

With the spread of infrastructure and the rising rates of smartphone penetration, we can expect MENA mobile gaming to only continue to multiply in most if not all areas of the region. With over 400 million Arabic speakers and a mobile gaming community that is considered the world’s fastest-growing, the MENA region is headed towards promising trajectories.

In 2016, the MENA mobile gaming market was worth around $1.6 billion dollars – only a slice of its projected valuation of $4.4 billion by 2022. Whether you’re entering the mobile gaming market as an employee, founder, or investor, the MENA region is where you should be looking. 

Over the next year, you can expect to see more mobile game localization efforts headed towards the MENA region. Since Arabic is one of the most spoken languages in the world, MENA is flooded with opportunities. Additionally, the space is not yet saturated which makes these opportunities closely aligned with reward. 

2020 and 2021 have been transformative years for the MENA mobile gaming industry; years we can learn from to move forward and apply trends that can meet mobile gamers’ 2022 needs. Tamatem Games is dedicated to driving MENA into the forefront of mobile gaming, encouraging both developers and investors to keep track of the region in 2022.