Ahmed Sharif, Sandsoft’s new chief technology officer, is a seasoned veteran in the gaming sphere.
Hired by the company in August, the video game engineer has worked for the likes of PlayStation, Electronic Arts and Meta.
Working with both hardware and software, Sharif was part of teams that developed virtual reality gaming as well as video game titles including Need for Speed and Pearl’s Peril.
Before joining Sandsoft, Ahmed noticed that some of the best people he worked with in the industry came from the Mena region.
“What I found mind-boggling was why isn't there something like a Microsoft, like an EA. Why is there nothing like this in the Middle East?,” he says.
This question set Sharif on a quest to become part of the region’s gaming growth.
Founded in 2020 and based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sandsoft is a gaming company focused on developing, publishing and investing in high quality games.
Saudi Arabia’s contribution for that growth potential is more than substantial. The kingdom’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy includes plans to develop 30 games and create about 40,000 jobs by 2030.
“Saudi Arabia is definitely pioneering as far as investment goes, which is the primary driver of growth,” Sharif says.
“I actually have a more intentional investment strategy behind gaming, especially mobile gaming.”
Mobile gaming is indeed very popular in Saudi Arabia.
UK-based research firm YouGov found that nearly three quarters of users opt for mobile phones when gaming because they offer convenience and portability.
“It's actually part of the reason why I decided to go in mobile gaming, despite I'd probably say 70 per cent of my career being in AAA gaming, because I see the most innovation occurring in the mobile space,” Sharif says.
AAA Games is a classification used in the gaming industry to denote high-budget, high-profile games that are produced and distributed by large video game publishers. Mobile games, on the other hand, are easier to produce, with smaller budgets and require less programming.
But mobile gaming presents a huge access point for gaming companies with just about everyone owning a mobile phone today, he adds. Phones themselves are also becoming more and more innovative and capable of delivering a top grade gaming experience.
Apple’s newest device, the iPhone 15 for example, boasts capabilities that even allows users to play AAA games such as Death Stranding and Resident Evil 4.
When asked about the region’s most favoured gaming genres, Sharif says that sports games such as EA FC are still dominant.
He also says that many gamers in the region enjoy problem solving and puzzle games due to their social aspect.
Sharif himself is a lifelong gamer. He credits games in the Legend of Zelda and God of War franchises as some of his personal favourites.
He says that with old age comes a larger focus on single player experiences rather than online multiplayer ones.
“As you get older and older, I think the time you can invest in very large-scale multiplayer games becomes more and more difficult,” he says.
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
