While the gaming industry feels incredibly fresh and cutting-edge, it is easy to forget its origins stretch back further than the 1972 launch of the Magnavox Odyssey, a product often cited as the first home-gaming console. It’s been an incredible half-century of video game development since, and yet there is no better time to be involved in the field.

The industry now stands at the threshold of an exhilarating future. Thanks to significant advances in technology and artificial intelligence, tomorrow’s gaming will be defined by more immersive experiences, expanded content and greater social connectivity. It’s no exaggeration to say the coming years will push the boundaries of what is possible – not only within gaming, but across a range of tangential industries – and Saudi Arabia is poised to be a major driving force.

An estimated two thirds of the Saudi population – about 25 million people – enjoy gaming. Initiatives such as the Esports World Cup, which will be held in Riyadh over seven weeks in the summer this year, and the first ever Olympic Esports Games, which will be hosted in the Saudi capital in 2027, will further boost the Kingdom’s gaming industry. While this presents a massive long-term opportunity for Saudi Arabia, it also presents a mid-term challenge.

Read the full story at Campaign ME