Mobile games have become the biggest and most accessible form of entertainment and relaxation for billions of people worldwide, including in the UAE, according to research by mobile advertising platform AdColony.
The industry surged during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when people started looking for new hobbies, AdColony said.
“No one can deny that we are living a stressful life and we are all looking for a fun escape. That is where mobile games are stepping in and make us forget our problems at least during the session time,” the report said.
The global mobile gaming market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11 per cent to $272 billion by 2030, up from $98bn in 2020, according to ResearchAndMarkets. The category is already bigger than the PC and console gaming markets combined, contributing about 57 per cent of the $173bn in global video games revenue last year.
Big Tech companies have also sought to tap into the opportunity, such as Apple and Google, while in September, Netflix acquired its first game studio.
Sony and Microsoft, makers of the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, respectively, have also increasingly shifted to a cloud-based platform that allows users to access games from their mobile devices.
About 77 per cent of adults in the UAE are playing mobile games, with 56 per cent of them male, the AdColony research found. The perception that mobile games are solely for children is also irrelevant, with 53 per cent of respondents saying they are aged between 30 and 49.
Thirty-eight per cent spend more than 10 hours a week playing mobile games, while 48 per cent said they play at least two to three times per day. About 62 per cent said they play mobile games because it makes them relax and relieves stress, with 59 per cent also saying they find it entertaining.
Other activities are associated while playing mobile games, with 53 per cent saying they watch TV at the same time. This is followed by listening to music (50 per cent), checking social media platforms (48 per cent) and watching or streaming movies or TV series (42 per cent).
Mobile games have also developed into a mainstream platform for advertisers to capture audience attention and users have varying responses to this.
Twenty-eight per cent of respondents to the AdColony survey said they do not spend money on mobile games, while 68 per cent prefer to watch ads in return for game advantages rather than paying money. About 84 per cent said they like ads that reward them more than traditional video ads that do not offer any rewards.
“To expand new horizons and possibly new customers, brands need to arrange their media spending in accordance with the popular way. With a lot of different mobile advertisement models, rewarded advertising where the gamers watch the advertisement to gain lives, coins, or any free in-game material is very important,” the report said.
The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump and Other Pieces 1986-2016
Martin Amis,
Jonathan Cape
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
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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.”
The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
