In association with:
REGION FOCUS: UAE AND THE MIDDLE EAST | BETA
TwoFour54’s training academy (left). Middle Eastern games industry specialists Robert Fisser from Sony Computer Entertainment (top), Ubisoft’s Yannick Theler (middle) and TwoFour54’s Wayne Borg (bottom)
“For whatever reason historically there
hasn’t been the infrastructure here in the Middle East, but there’s a huge effort to change that, which is something TwoFour54 is doing here in Abu Dhabi, but to serve the wider area,” says Wayne Borg, COO of TwoFour54. “We want to build that hotspot that attracts young creatives, whatever field they are in, and is seen as a place to come where you’ll find support, infrastructure, and a community of people that understand what you are doing. It’s a place that’s conducive to and supportive of producing great content.”
GO WEST For now the focus in building the region’s industry to a globally relevant size focuses on creating culturally relevant content for the Middle Eastern audience, be it through culturally reappropriating triple-A IP from the rest of the world, or creating original IP and content targeted exclusively local tastes. This is something TwoFour54 is devoted to, and a specialty the likes of Abu Dhabi studio Jawaker excel at. Jawaker, however, isn’t afraid to admit
more far reaching ambitions, and refuses to limit its horizons at the geographical and cultural boundaries of the Middle East. “We focus on building card games for the Middle East and North Africa region, and
currently have 13 of the most popular ones on our website, but our infrastructure is quite flexible and we could consider expanding globally in the future if we deem the option feasible,” explains Ahmed Abdel- Yaman, operations manager at Jawaker.
In the area there is a huge interest in
video games, and a huge market. A lot of people in the region want to
make games. Yannick Theler, Ubisoft
Out of context, a confident developer with
far reaching plans isn’t that uncommon. But the idea of a future where games built within a Middle Eastern cultural frame of reference permeate the global games industry could lead to a thrilling diversification in the themes and experiences Western players can access. “The culture is quite different here, and
that could mean that with the operation we have here we could see, in a few years, some very different new ideas and new perspectives on design that could reach the
rest of the world,” offers Ubisoft’s Theler. “That is a very positive thing indeed.” “Many of the companies working here are
looking at Arabic content, but there’s an international viewpoint and international content is very much on the agenda,” adds Borg, who believes that the more the area can internationalise the more it can take
NEW SCHOOL
After many years where games development focused training was near non-existent, the establishment of a new Gaming Academy by Abu Dhabi media hub TwoFour54 has filled studios in the region with a new-found optimism. “The Gaming Academy is a
collaboration between ourselves, Ubisoft and the SAE Institute, which is an industry focused learning institution with global reach and around 60 campus’ worldwide,” explains TwoFour54 COO Wayne Borg. “We acquired their Dubai campus last year, and there’s 300 or so full time students there now.” It’s still early days for the academy, but a 16-month full-time Level Design Course is already on offer to students, with a view to bolster the region’s blossoming games industry infrastructure with a supply of capable talent.
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