Youth urged to harness career prospects in gaming industry

AMMAN — Top game publishers and contributors in the MENA region are Jordanian companies, according to Nour Khrais, CEO and founder of Maysalward, Mobile Game Development Studio & Publisher.

Khrais, who is also chairman of the Jordan Gaming Taskforce, noted that throughout the past 10 years, the industry has developed under the directives of His Majesty through various initiatives, which supported the gaming cluster in Jordan and capacity building through the King Abdullah Fund for Development (KAFD).

Khrais highlighted that the gaming industry in Jordan began to witness “real structuring” in 2011.

“It started through KAFD’s training programmes for young Jordanians all over Jordan on app development and more,” Khrais told The Jordan Times. 

These programmes helped the sector expand regionally and internationally, as well as minimised the gaps between Jordanian labs and game developers in the region, Khrais added.

He noted that the gaming industry faces many challenges, notably funding to market the product.

Time-consuming processes for customs fees and taxes, in addition to the lack of lawyers or lawmakers “who understand the gaming industry” also pose major challenges to the sector, Khrais said.

“University graduates are not up to date with the latest requirements for the sector. We need more graduates with skills for user acquisition, digital marketing understanding and much more,” he added.

Khrais also noted that the industry “struggles with governmental bodies, as until today, gaming companies cannot register as gaming companies but rather as technology companies”.

According to Khrais, the pandemic has had a slight negative impact on the industry’s revenues, especially the new startups. 

However, the pandemic crisis helped create more traffic, as people at home were looking for any sort of entertainment online, he added.

The gaming industry in Jordan is divided into three parts: Developers, publishers, and eSports, Khrais said.

“eSports, or in another term play-to-earn is extremely important today as it is becoming an official sport worldwide. There are many initiatives in Jordan to build an official Jordanian team, as well as attracting investments from different companies,” he continued.

Khrais said that the top players of eSports regionally are Jordanians, and Jordan ranks 7th worldwide, “which is why we must lead in eSports in Jordan”, he added.

Khrais emphasised the importance of encouraging youth and the new generation to turn video games into career opportunities through development, publishing and eSports.

He noted that the National Economic Workshop is currently working on finalising a roadmap to include recommendations for an action plan to accelerate the growth of Jordan’s video gaming sector and increase awareness about the rapidly growing segment of Jordan’s creative industries.

“The roadmap will include short, medium and long-term actions scheduled to boost the gaming sector economy and accelerate startup growth, which will be discussed directly with government officials, public sector organisations and stakeholders to help make this fast-growing sector more successful,” Khrais added.