As the UAE continues to diversify its economy, technology has been one of the major growth areas. Products ranging from silicon wafers to aircraft components are now proudly "Made in the UAE". And, as The National reported yesterday, so is the popular mobile-phone game CSI: Hidden Crimes, a spin-off from the American television franchise. Its developer, Ubisoft, has had a presence in Abu Dhabi for three years, employing 51 people, a third of whom are from the Middle East. Managing director Yannick Theler says he wants to double staff numbers within five years, including employing Emiratis with the requisite interest and qualifications. While all this is undoubtedly good news for the UAE economy, it could be more than that: it could be the first step towards creating uniquely Arab games.
There are two very good reasons for doing this. The first is economic. The Arab and Muslim markets are huge, with large populations of young people, so there are obvious commercial opportunities in creating games that talk directly to the interests and experiences of the end users. Such enterprises would require Emirati and other Arab employees, meaning incentives for young people to learn computer code and exercise their creative talents.
The second reason is the urgent need to create a counter-narrative to the negative portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in existing games. Like the Hollywood films that often inspire them, many games depict Arabs as criminals or terrorists, and real or imagined Middle East settings are often used as backdrops for violent gameplay. An experiment conducted recently at the University of Michigan-Dearborn showed that American respondents who had played the game Counter Strike for 30 minutes were more likely to demonstrate anti-Arab attitudes afterwards than those who had played a different game. Clearly it's time to spread some more positive messages.
With a wealth of literature to draw on, and inspiration for new stories all around, there is every reason to believe that we could soon be creating and exporting games to the Arab world and beyond.
