Video Games in the United Arab Emirates

PROSPECTS

Video games sees a positive performance

In 2018, video games grew in terms of both hardware and software. With launches of console upgrades over the last year, sales of static consoles grew in 2018, driving the growth of video games hardware.

Hand-held consoles to face a decline

Video games hardware witnessed current value growth during the review period, with most of this growth derived from static consoles. Demand continued to grow in the region due to an increase in promotions and shifting technology, with new supporting apps on static consoles offering consumers a wide range of options other than gaming, such as streaming, recording and internet browsing.

AR/VR headsets continues to lead growth

AR/VR headsets led growth within video games in 2018. Besides the category growing from a low base, consumers found such devices very exotic, and an eye-opener in terms of a completely new era in gaming.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Sony Corp continues to lead video games

The launch of PlayStation 4 Pro towards the end of 2016 helped to boost Sony’s sales and share in video games. The company’s worldwide prominence in gaming trickled down to the region, making it the leader in static consoles in the United Arab Emirates.

Electronic Arts remains strong despite falling back to third place

In 2017, leading digital games manufacturer Electronic Arts witnessed a decline in its value share in video games, and fell from the second place it had gained in 2016 back down to third place. However, it remained a strong in third in 2018.

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 into the latter category.

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