Saudi gaming studio Spoilz Games secures $693,000 in pre-seed funding

Investment will be used to expand portfolio and target a wider audience

Spoilz Games, led by chief executive Musab Almalki, centre, wants to 'provide everything that interests the Arab gamer in general'. Photo: Spoilz

Spoilz Games, a Saudi Arabian mobile gaming studio and publisher, raised 2.6 million riyals ($693,000) in a pre-seed investment round that it will use to expand its portfolio.

The Riyadh-based company behind the titles Jet Warrior, Re-Train and Smack Sack, attracted the funding from angel investors and will use it to develop games and expand its global presence, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Mena's gaming industry is expected to grow rapidly in the next few months, creating a need for quality content to meet users' expectations. This fund will enable us to grow and publish games that compete globally,” Musab Almalki, chief executive of Spoilz Games, said.

The gaming market is booming worldwide, receiving a boost after people resorted to at-home entertainment during coronavirus lockdowns over the last two years.

Globally, the gaming sector has about three billion participants, according to gaming data provider Newzoo.

The market is expected to be valued at $339.95 billion by 2027, from $198.4bn in 2021 at a compound annual rate of 9 per cent, according to Mordor Intelligence.

The top 15 venture capital funds dedicated to gaming, meanwhile, have about $5bn in assets under management as of Wednesday — double what they had in mid-December — according to advisory firm Games One.

Employees participate in a 'Squid Game' challenge dressed as characters from the popular Netflix television series, in Riyadh. All Photos: Reuters

'Squid Game' is a South Korean survival drama series, which draws from a similarly named Korean children's game.

The series revolves around a contest where 456 players, all of whom are in deep financial debt, risk their lives to play a series of deadly games for the chance to win a lot of money.

'Squid Game' was released worldwide on September 17, 2021, to critical acclaim and international attention.

It is Netflix's most-watched series, becoming the top-viewed program in 94 countries.

Children participate in the Honeycomb challenge in a restaurant in Riyadh.

'Squid Games' creator Hwang Dong-hyuk conceived of the idea from his own economic struggles early in life.

A child participates in the Honeycomb challenge.

Though Hwang had initially written it in 2009, he was unable to find a production company to fund the idea until Netflix took an interest.

The series has received numerous accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for O Yeong-su.

Employees dressed as characters from the series perform to entertain their guests at a restaurant.

In Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy, the gaming sector's value is projected to reach $6.8bn by 2030, according to a Boston Consulting Group report.

It is poised to generate high-quality jobs and various reputational benefits in the kingdom, where consumption is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 22 per cent through 2030 from $959m in 2020, the consultancy said.

In February, MBC Group, the biggest broadcaster in Mena, formed a joint venture with Neom, the $500bn high-tech mega-city being built in the kingdom, to set up the first AAA games development studio in the region.

A month earlier, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund, launched a gaming company, Savvy Gaming Group, to strengthen its position in the sector. It aims to become a leader, both locally and internationally, pledging to develop an “integrated ecosystem".

Spoilz, established in 2020, said it has built partnerships with publishers and gaming studios to expand its offerings. In particular, it is wants to build its audience of young gamers.

It is also intent on appealing to the local audience — localisation has become a key metric for gaming studios to win the attention of a rapidly-expanding user base.

“Spoilz does not only aim to publish its games to the public, but also to provide everything that interests the Arab gamer in general,” it said in a blog post on its website.