Video game publisher and developer Kwalee has made a mark on the gaming industry, from the creation of the mobile publishing platform for developers called Hitseeker to their deep history in the mobile gaming market, Kwalee has become a name synonymous with impact.
Now, the company is looking to build on their expansion into the MENA region, among other things.
“Not long after we met in PGC, I found myself, along with a few of my colleagues, in Saudi Arabia, part of an expert panel alongside other studios, publishers, VCs and more, attending the NEOM Level Up event in Riyadh – so, the MENA region is definitely a focus for Kwalee” Kwalee’s publishing manager, Sayeed Rahman said in an interview with Pocket Gamer Biz.
“We want to build more partnerships there because not only is gaming getting a huge amount of support and attention from the government, but the talent is undeniable. Especially in Saudi Arabia, where gaming is a focus for Vision 2030, we see major investments in companies like Scopely, who are absolutely taking the market by storm with their IP title, Monopoly Go.
Rahman would later add further emphasis to the company’s goal of getting deeper into the MENA region, when asked about what people should look out for in the future when it comes to Kwalee.
“Expanison in the MENA region” Rahman said.
“It is no secret that countries such as UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are putting huge focus and investment into gaming. Let’s look at Saudi Arabia in particular, where Vision 2030 has a clear strategy for gaming, growing out the education systems, supporting new, innovative studios and carving out partnerships with massive gaming IP’s such as Monopoly Go. Even with the growth in the gaming infrastructure in the region, studios still need a lot of guidance from successful publishers.
And more focus on live ops. This goes back to the point of higher quality users with better LTV. Spending millions on UA is not a sustainable strategy for a game that may or may not have the ROI, so we have to really understand how we can keep our existing users engaged. There may be millions of gamers and applying the same strategy to all of them no longer works. liveops and Events strategies will become the industry standards. Companies not prioritising these approaches will lag behind the ones that do.”
