Singapore at the “All That Matters” Conference – major focus on esports & video games at “Video Games Matters” with Prince Faisal bin Bandar of Saudi Arabia.
l to r: Mobilium Global Chief Executive Ralph Simon with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Bandar, President of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronics & Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS) &, top global video game leader, Lee Trink, Chairman of the world-leading Video Game company & esportsteams, FaZeClan – after Prince Faisal’s compelling address to the Video Games Matters event at the All That Matters Conference in Singapore on September 28, 2022.
Prince Faisal wants to take the “sport” all the way to the Olympics – he is a lifelong gamer & president of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronics and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS), believes pro esports players, experience similar physical stresses as elite performers in conventional sports. Along with establishing Saudi Arabia as a global gaming hub, the prince wants the country’s best gamers to be recognised on the same podiums as traditional sport. For him, excelling in Medal of Honour should bring real medals of honour.
As part of its Vision 2030 reform plan, Saudi Arabia aims for the broader gaming industry, which includes esports, to directly and indirectly account for 0.8 to 1 percent of the economy by 2030. This would equate to annual revenue of around SAR80 billion ($21.3 billion), up from just SAR600 million currently—and Prince Faisal insists such targets are realistic (the royal’s projections include associated activities such as staging events.).
Saudi Arabia is also in talks with major gaming companies such as Activision Blizzard & Konami to open offices in the kingdom, where they would localise games for the Arab market & also host their games on Saudi internet servers. Many games are hosted on servers in Europe and Asia, which causes a latency of around 180-260 milliseconds for players in Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal estimates. Such a lag is immaterial for most online activity, but for serious gamers it can be the difference between triumph & defeat. Why? Because gamers in parts of Asia, for example, have a latency of less than 40 milliseconds, giving them a tangible advantage when they’re up against Saudi Arabia-based players.