Video Games in the United Arab Emirates

PROSPECTS

Video games records positive performance

In 2017 video games grew from both sides – hardware and software. With recent console upgrade launches happening over the past year, sales of static consoles grew in 2017, driving growth for video games hardware.

Hand-held consoles faces a speed bump

Although video games hardware witnessed growth, most of that growth derived from static consoles. Categories such as hand-held consoles witnessed a value decline compared to previous years.

AR/VR headsets continues to lead growth

The AR/VR headsets category led growth within video games in 2017. Besides the category growing from a low base, consumers found such devices very exotic and an eye opener for a completely new era of gaming.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Sony Corp leads the video games category

The launch of PlayStation 4 pro towards the end of 2016 helped boost sales further in 2017. The company’s worldwide prominence in gaming trickled down to the region, making it the number one static console in the United Arab Emirates.

Electronic Arts falls back to third place

In 2017 leading digital game manufacturer Electronic Arts witnessed a decline in value share and went from second place it gained in 2016 back down to third place in video games. The company is well known in United Arab Emirates for its PCs/console-based downloads and online games, the most famous being Fifa and other sporting games.

Local start-ups gain ground

As the small number of local gaming start-ups continued to experiment in online and mobile gaming, international firms collaborated with government-based entities to gain a solid foothold. Ubisoft Abu Dhabi is one such firm falling in the latter category.

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