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Saudi Arabia’s Gaming Sector Is Quickly Gathering Momentum
Around 3,000 locals already attend Gamers8, an 8-week eSports festival in Riyadh, with a tournament prize pool of $45 million.
Saudi Arabian locals make no secret of their passion for video games and eSports, with even Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rumored to be an avid Call of Duty player.
Last year, the Saudi royal announced a $38-billion investment strategy for the Kingdom’s Savvy Games Group, which is owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund.
Meanwhile, as Gamers8 — an eight-week eSports festival in Riyadh with 3,000 attendees — gathers momentum, the government is increasingly emphasizing local game production, hoping to turn Saudi Arabia into “an Eden for game developers” with homegrown titles promoting Arabic culture.
“In the past, Arabs were only buying games, not developing games. Now, there is an opportunity to develop games, design your own ideas, and make them a reality according to local customs and traditions,” explained developer Mohammed Al Fakih.
Two-thirds of the non-immigrant population of Saudi Arabia is aged under 30, making the country an important player in the world video game market. In addition, some 25,000 domestic and foreign developers are currently working to find the winning formula that will help a locally-produced title break out on the world stage.
“With the expertise coming from outside and the knowledge being transferred, we will soon notice some games that can really take off internationally,” said Faisal bin Homran, chief eSports officer at the Saudi Esports Federation.
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Saudi Arabia’s national strategy has even more ambitious dreams: By 2030, officials hope that 30 globally competitive games will have been produced in domestic studios.
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Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE
The comprehensive agreement with Abu Dhabi’s government includes a training program, infrastructure development, and a manufacturing presence.
All-electric aircraft company Joby Aviation has secured three separate agreements with departments of Abu Dhabi’s government that lay the groundwork to develop and scale air taxi services in the Emirate and beyond.
The deal was signed at the recent DRIFTx thought-leadership and exhibition platform and gave Joby exclusive rights to not only operate air taxi services in Dubai but also unlock inter-emirate services between Abu Dhabi.
Joe Ben Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, said: “Today’s agreement demonstrates the incredible momentum behind the adoption of clean flight across the UAE. We’re looking forward to delivering a fantastic experience for our future customers in Abu Dhabi and we’re excited to be unlocking the potential for zero-emissions flight between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We’re grateful for the support and collaboration of our governmental partners and the entire ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and we remain deeply impressed by their commitment to building out a world-class aviation ecosystem in the Emirate”.
Joby’s all-electric aircraft went on display for the first time in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina at the DRIFTx event. The air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour (321 km/h). The zero-emission craft is said to have an extremely low acoustic footprint and can travel a maximum of 100 miles (161 km) on a single charge.
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Once operational, Joby’s air taxi fleet would enable fast, clean travel across the UAE, with journeys between Abu Dhabi to Dubai taking just 30 minutes compared with two hours by car during peak times.
Joby continues to work closely with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to help the Emirates become a world leader in the introduction of air taxis. Additional testing and analysis will be required before inter-emirate travel becomes a reality, but the cutting-edge technology already appears to have great potential.
Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE
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