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PUBG might not be the buzzy game it was nearly a decade ago when it hit Early Access, but it's still cranking out content as one of the most prolific and successful live service games in the business. Of course, PUBG Mobile and its Chinese version, Game For Peace, are massive hits. But the the old school PC version on Steam is probably my favorite online game, even if chicken dinners come few and far between for these dad eyes. One of the fun aspects of PUBG is that new content is never far away. The Erangel Sub Zero map, bringing winter to the OG island map is terrific. Falling satellites, braving the elements and the same steady mix of gunplay and strategy are all part of the fun. And while I'm playing extraction, it's still one of the early Battle Royale games that floats my boat. This patch notes video released recently shows us skins, new content and more. It's a good snappy look at one of Steam's most popular games. Speaking of that, its still consistently peaking daily at more than 700K CCU. And while the game is far from perfect, the consistent content releases keep me coming back. Have you found yourself freezing on the island too?

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EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for $55 Billion. This is your daily reminder that game franchises are worth billions. EA shareholders will receive $210 per share, a 25% premium over its pre-deal price, and once the transaction closes in fiscal 2027, EA will no longer trade on public markets. This is one of the biggest moves in gaming history, comparable in scale to Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition. EA is one of the five major Western publishers, sitting on franchises like Battlefield, Apex Legends, The Sims, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and a portfolio of sports games that generate billions annually. Going private could allow EA to operate without quarterly shareholder pressure, but the deal is financed partly with $20 billion in debt, which means cost-cutting is inevitable. Layoffs, studio closures, and selling off dormant IP are all realistic outcomes. This acquisition is also part of a bigger Saudi strategy. PIF has spent years diversifying away from oil, investing in esports, Formula 1, and now one of the most profitable gaming companies in the world. It signals how seriously Gulf states see gaming as a future growth industry and a cultural tool. From a consumer standpoint, this could go in two directions: If the consortium truly wants to grow EA rather than strip it for parts, it could mean reviving neglected franchises and experimenting with new IP without the quarterly earnings pressure. On the other hand, private equity deals often focus on generating value quickly, which could mean more microtransactions, subscription pushes, and a further narrowing of EA’s focus to guaranteed earners like EA Sports FC and Battlefield. One of the most recognizable names in gaming has been taken off the public market and placed under the control of foreign investors. It is the clearest sign yet that video games are no longer just a niche hobby but a major asset class that nations, sovereign funds, and global financiers are willing to spend tens of billions to control.

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Savvy Games Group reportedly is close to acquiring Moonton, the developer behind the popular game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, in a deal valued at nearly $6 billion. The potential acquisition highlights Saudi Arabia’s growing investment in the global gaming and esports industry. If finalized, the deal could strengthen Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become a major hub for gaming development and esports expansion worldwide. Mobile Legends remains one of the most played mobile esports titles, especially across Asia and emerging gaming markets. Savvy Games Group is reportedly nearing a $6 billion deal to acquire Moonton, the studio behind Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The potential acquisition signals Saudi Arabia’s growing dominance in the global esports and gaming investment landscape. 🔗 Read more: https://newshots.in/ . (Savvy Games Group acquisition, Moonton Mobile Legends developer, Mobile Legends gaming news , Saudi gaming investment, Global esports acquisition, Mobile gaming industry deal) . #GamingIndustry #EsportsNews #MobileGaming #SavvyGamesGroup #MobileLegends #GamingAcquisition #EsportsIndustry #GlobalGaming #GamingInvestment #TechNews #GamingBusiness #BreakingNews

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Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group recently signed an MoU with Roblox to train 700,000 high school students in game development. Eight months ago, Saudi regulators forced Roblox to block 300,000 games and disable chat across the KSA. By April 2026, more than 140 federal lawsuits had been consolidated in a California court alleging the platform's design enabled child grooming and sexual exploitation. Algeria and Russia have banned it outright. Savvy penned a deal for speed and global tooling. In return, it tied a Vision 2030 flagship to a partner whose legal exposure could run for years. I wrote about why this deal lands differently in the Kingdom. Full feature: https://lnkd.in/eMkssJtt #Roblox #SaudiArabia #GamesIndustry

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The ongoing discussions around a possible EWC 2026 venue shift from Riyadh to Paris have genuinely become one of the biggest talking points in esports right now. To be very clear, nothing has been officially confirmed yet, and Riyadh still remains the official host city for the Esports World Cup 2026. But at the same time, it’s impossible to completely ignore the conversations happening around contingency planning, especially considering the current geopolitical tensions in the region. When you’re hosting one of the biggest esports events in the world involving players, creators, teams, staff, sponsors, and fans from across the globe for almost two months… discussions around logistics, safety, operations, and backup planning are naturally going to happen. And honestly, that’s what makes this story so interesting. The esports industry has become so massive now that conversations like these are no longer “just gaming rumors.” They impact organizations, international travel, production planning, creators, audiences, and the entire ecosystem connected to the event. Right now, online discussions are heavily pointing toward Paris as a possible backup option if contingency plans are ever needed. Again, officially, nothing has been announced so far. But it will definitely be interesting to see what the officials have to say in the coming days, because the entire esports world is closely watching this situation right now. #EsportsWorldCup #Esports #GamingIndustry #EsportsNews #Valorant #LeagueOfLegends #CS2 #Dota2 #GamingCommunity

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🚀 MAJOR NEWS for #GameDev Talent! We're thrilled to share an exciting development that signals massive growth and new opportunities in the global games landscape! Savvy Games Group, Saudi Arabia’s National Champion for Games and Esports, has just announced a strategic partnership with award-winning UK-based gaming services provider, Side. What this means for your career in gaming: a) Side is officially expanding into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and plans to open a physical studio in Riyadh by Q4 2025 b) This new Riyadh studio will serve as a hub for domestic MENA clients, primarily focusing on providing crucial codev services to MENA developers. c) It will also be a vital link, connecting Saudi Arabian developers with Side's extensive global network of studios. d) This collaboration directly aims to foster local talent and support the next generation of creative professionals in the region. Deborah Kirkham, CEO at Side, highlighted Saudi Arabia's immense potential, calling it quite possibly the most important market for the global games industry right now, especially when it comes to the development scene. This is driven by inviting partners like Savvy, an audience eager for localized content, and a government proactively investing in the future. This partnership aligns perfectly with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals to diversify its economy and position the Kingdom as a global hub for gaming and digital entertainment. Get ready for an even more vibrant and dynamic future, full of potential roles in game development, creative services, and more! We're closely watching this space for upcoming talent needs. Are you excited about the growth of the games industry in Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region? Let us know your thoughts below! 👇 #saudiarabia #Vision2030 #gamingindustry #news #GameDevelopment #goalreify

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ELA Games Managing Director Marharyta Yerina spoke at SiGMA Eurasia in Dubai about progression systems in modern slot games. The panel explored how studios approach player retention through game design. Yerina highlighted the role of micro-goals and gameplay pacing in maintaining engagement. https://lnkd.in/dhGSq4Qb

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Gaming emerges as MENA’s next big venture bet An article by Kirill Gurskiy, CFA, Managing Director at @GEM Capital. Today, the Middle East and North Africa region stands at a unique and powerful inflection point. While traditionally strong in other sectors, MENA's most compelling venture capital opportunity now lies in its booming games industry. Driven by a perfect storm of demographic trends, tech sector growth, and government support, MENA is on the cusp of becoming a global gaming powerhouse. The region is home to a community of hundreds of millions of gamers. This explosive demand, accelerated by visionary policy, marks the gaming sector as MENA's next defining investment frontier. Young, digital-first population MENA's most significant asset is its people: a remarkably young population, with over 60% under the age of 30, that views games not as a pastime, but as a primary form of entertainment and social connection. This deeply engaged, tech-savvy audience represents a massive, ready-made gaming market of an estimated 559 million players – a figure that is nearly as large as that of North and Latin America combined (~599 million) and larger than Europe's (~454 million). Crucially, this represents only a fraction of the region's demographic potential, ensuring fertile ground for sustained growth and community-driven success in the years to come. High monetization potential Beyond the sheer number of players, the market is distinguished by its exceptional spending power. Gamers in the key MENA markets, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are not just active, they are highly valuable customers. Buoyed by a high disposable income, a growing middle class, and the cultural importance of games, they exhibit a strong propensity to spend. This high monetisation potential creates a commercial opportunity that is too compelling to ignore. You can read the article on: https://lnkd.in/gGs4DJjT

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🇸🇦 Saudi Fahy Studios has secured $1.75 million in funding to develop and launch globally successful games! → The investment will empower the studio to scale its development capabilities and expand its creative team → Fahy is focused on creating high-quality, engaging games with strong international appeal, aiming to produce the next global hit from the MENA region #menastartupdigest #saudiarabia #gaming #startupfunding #gamedevelopment #venturecapital #investment #vision2030 #mena

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This June marks 1.5 years since I’ve moved to the UAE 🇦🇪 after 2 years of digial nomading in Europe. My Emirates journey has been amazing so far, here’s few takeaways for my fellow community in the games industry: 1️⃣ UAE is truly an international business, financial and cultural hub. Abu-Dhabi and Dubai are growing rapidly, unlocking new opportunities for tech and games. 2️⃣ UAE is living proof of the leaders’ bold vision and commitment becoming a reality. The UAE invests the revenues from oil & gas to build the country’s future - finance, tourism, consumer services, transportation, education - you name it. Check out the book My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence by the Rulef of Dubai for more. The book was written in 2004 and I was very impressed to see how many elements of the stated vision have already become a reality. This is legendary. 3️⃣ UAE is open to many cultures and they all are respected. English is the key langauge for day to day communication. The country brings passionate and active people from all over the world to build new things in all sectors - resulting in communities of likeminded people coming from all over the world. You don’t feel like an immigrant here, and it is very important. 4️⃣ The leadership of Abu-Dhabi and Dubai is committed to developing the tech scene with such initiatives as Abu-Dhabi Gaming and Dubai Program for Gaming 2033 - offering long-term visa options for skilled professionals, very beneficial business environment for game studios and much more. 5️⃣ The weather is amazing, waking up to sunshine every winter day is a game changer for better mood and productivity. The crystal clear sea is just minutes away … until ☀️ summer arrives and it all gets very hot :) 6️⃣ Nature - I did not expect much from the landscapes of the Arabian Peninsula, but then realized that the sea, the desert and the mountains are the real nature - vast and beautiful 7️⃣ Last but not least, UAE is one of the safest countries in the world  «When we extract the last barrel of oil in the future - we will celebrate it, as by that time new sectors of our economy will have flourished - finance, tech, games, services and tourism. Now, let’s build the games sector together» - this message delivered by the UAE authorities on stage of Google Move summit really stuck with me. To me, it’s all about the vision. #uae #emirates #gamesindustry #mobile #business

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Starvania Studio, a Saudi indie studio, has secured a $1.1 million investment from Merak Capital and Impact46. Founded in 2022 by Meaad Aflah 🔜 Gamescom and Eng. Muslih Alzahrani, Starvania created the fantasy game Bahamut and the Waqwaq Tree, inspired by Arabian mythology and released it on Steam in 2024. The funding will expand PC and console development, strengthen production capabilities, and help recruit top Saudi talent to grow globally competitive gaming IPs. https://lnkd.in/dMxxNuiu

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Niko Partners has published a report on the gaming market in the MENA-3 region (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt). Here are some key figures: 💰 Analysts forecast that by the end of 2025, the market revenue will exceed $2.2 billion. By 2029, it will reach $2.78 billion. 📊 For comparison, in 2024, the revenue was $2 billion. Of this amount, 59.1% was attributed to Saudi Arabia, 33.7% to the UAE, and 7.2% to Egypt. 📈 Last year, the UAE led the ARPU metric at $84.6. Following were Saudi Arabia ($54.89) and Egypt ($3.39). 📱 The majority of player spending in the region is on mobile games, but spending on console and PC titles is “not significantly lower.” 📈 At the end of 2024, there were 72 million gamers in the region, expected to grow to 84.3 million by 2029. ⏳ On average, local gamers spend 10.8 hours a week on games. ⛹️ The most popular genre is sports simulators. Exciting times ahead! Source: https://lnkd.in/eYrD4nPF

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Key Points Mobile gaming in 2026 will remain the largest market in Asia. - Convenience is the supreme power of Asian players. - Mid-range mobiles in 2026 are so powerful that they are almost portable consoles - Free-to-Play model also makes the number one revenue in Asia - Asian demographic structure is also driving the mobile gaming industry - The strongest mobile content and e-Sport ecosystem - Asian developers are also investing the most in mobile games - The most convenient payment system in the world is in Asia - The widest variety of mobile games across all platforms ============= These are some points and there are more as we dive deeper

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I have posted a number of times about how the various initiatives in Saudi Arabia are kick-starting the video games market in the wider MENA region, so it is great to see Niko Partners reporting that the market in Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia (MENA-3) generated $2.0 billion in games revenue in 2024, up 5.4% YoY with revenue is expected to reach $2.2 billion in 2025. They go on to say that this growth is attributed to "rising gamer engagement, higher disposable incomes and strong government interest in games and esports. MENA-3 represents a huge opportunity for companies who can navigate its cultural landscape". The Neom back LevelUp Accelerator program I am involved in is now in its 3rd year and has helped multiple studios achieve some great results (publishing deals, investment and great game launches). This year the program has expanded to include teams from Jordan. The MENA region is the last untapped high value market. It may not be a game changer for your bottom line just yet, but with so much upheaval happening in the industry, this is a region you should pay closer attention to. See you at #developbrighton

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$20.6B in mobile gaming IAP last quarter. The market grew 0.5%. One slice of one genre did 12x. Puzzle IAP jumped 21% and crossed $4B in a single quarter for the first time. Strategy is still the biggest at $4.89B but posted its weakest quarter in a year. The puzzle engine is hybrid casual, and three sibling mechanics are doing the work. Block puzzle revenue. 12x year over year. Installs up 71%. Color Block Jam alone crossed $100M in bookings, a Rollic record. Screw puzzle revenue. 2.8x year over year. 376 new projects shipped in H1 2025. Screwdom pulled $27.1M in a quarter. Sort puzzle revenue. 2.2x year over year. Magic Sort cleared $40M in year one on IAP only. Three things to take from this. A flat market is hiding 2x to 12x movers underneath. Reading the top line as "mobile is mature" misses where the money actually is. The win is mechanic-shaped, not genre-shaped. Block, Screw, Sort have different funnels, different ARPPU, different creatives. Treating them as one bucket is how you bet wrong. Volume is part of the model. 376 Screw projects in six months. Most die. The winners pay for the rest. Ideation cadence is a strategic input. #mobilegaming #hybridcasual #f2p #productmanagement #gamedev

On the occasion of the Kings World Cup Nations, ConWiro has released a new version of Kings League Clash of Captains, reinforcing our commitment to the continuous evolution of the product and its alignment with the key milestones of the Kings League ecosystem. This release represents a significant step forward across several strategic pillars: - Deeper and more accessible gameplay strategy, designed to deliver clear decisions with real impact in every match. - Optimized match pacing, enhancing the experience for short play sessions without sacrificing competitive intensity. - Clearer and more balanced progression systems, aimed at strengthening long-term retention and competitiveness. Stronger integration with the Kings League context, understood as the natural framework for the game’s evolution. This new version is part of a broader roadmap focused on continuous improvement, data-driven decision-making, and constant adaptation to player expectations. We continue working to establish Kings League Clash of Captains as a leading digital expansion within the Kings League universe. #KingsLeague #MobileGaming #GameUpdate #KingsWorldCupNations #Brazil #football #futbol #sport #sports

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A significant step that reflects Saudi Arabia’s ambition to lead the global gaming industry 🌍🎮 Investing in a studio like Moonton strengthens our presence in the mobile gaming market and opens new doors for growth and innovation.

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