Arabic gamers have long felt underserved by the video game industry, citing poor or nonexistent localization efforts, sloppy representation of Arabic and Muslim characters, and a lack of titles prioritizing regional preferences. And with about 60% of the Arab-speaking world under the age of 25, it’s a common complaint for a wildly popular entertainment industry within the region.
In 2026, it’s safe to say the balance of power is shifting. With the Saudi-led acquisition of video game giant Electronic Arts, Arabic-speaking countries are suddenly a much stronger gravitational force within the industry. And Mezha reports that the deal could create a chain reaction where major titles invest more resources into Arabic market appeal.
“A key untapped niche is creating high-budget AAA content with cultural relevance for the 400 million Arab world,” Mykyta Kazymyrov wrote for Mezha. “This is something that Western publishers often ignore or do inauthentically. Hence the high interest in Assassin's Creed Mirage, for which the Saudis sponsored the expansion.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to become the center that will tell Arab stories to a global audience,” Kazymyrov added.
But what are Arabic gamers looking for when it comes to representation and localization? Sometimes, it’s as simple as seeing their ethnicity and culture portrayed accurately — something Western audiences take for granted.
"People want to see their national days, their special dishes reflected in these games -- people who look like they're from the region, not just blond with a cowboy hat," Turkish gaming company Peak Games co-founder Rina Onur told Reuters.
Representation of Islam, a detail Western creators and storytellers have often fumbled, is another key consideration for the overwhelming majority of Arabic gamers. Given that 93-94% of Middle East-North Africa residents are Muslims, they want to see the religion represented with the nuance and complexity that Western- and Asian-dominant religions often enjoy.
"We got pressure for having a veiled girl in our game,” Emad al-Doghaither, founder of Saudi games publisher Semanoor, told Reuters. “People asked us, 'Why are you forcing your culture on us?' Well, what can we do? Women in our culture wear the veil. Other companies have their culture in their games.”
Particularly in the 2000s, Western game creators were most likely to portray Muslims as terrorists and antagonists — if they bothered to portray them at all. Since then, studios have more consciously tried to represent Muslim characters with the full range of humanity they deserve.
“If you see the old Call of Duty Modern Warfare, they had all the vague chanting, yellow filter in the levels, and Arab soldiers having ragdoll physics. They were using the culture as a set piece, not trying to represent the Muslims,” Rami Ismail, the Dutch-Egyptian co-founder of games studio Vlambeer, told IGN Southeast Asia in 2020.
“But if you played the latest Modern Warfare, you can actually play an Arab soldier, Farrah,” he added. “They removed the filter, they made a more conscious effort to not portray Arabs as the terrorist. The fact you get to play as her is such a huge step.”
Arabic audiences also want to see their language treated with greater care. Oftentimes, titles receive no official Arabic localization at all. Other times, the localization is insulting in its carelessness. In a 2015 talk at the XOXO conference, Ismail pointed out how a game with a $100 million budget didn’t even bother to check the accuracy of its art assets written in Arabic, according to Arab News.
“This was a game in which a giant part of the budget went into making sure that you can shoot my people in hyper-realistic fashion … and they couldn’t even check [if the Arabic was correct],” he said.
What’s more, the expansion of gaming within Arab countries may supply young residents with a future as well as entertainment. As countries have leaned more heavily into gaming investments, they’ve also supplied young Arabs with pathways toward a career in game development. In February, the Arab Youth Center signed an MOU in Dubai to develop training programs for aspiring game developers, according to Pocket Gamer.
“Our goal is for participants to graduate with clear tools, a more precise professional vision, and the confidence to be an active part of this industry, and perhaps one of its future leaders,” Arab Youth Centre executive director engineer Fatima Al-Halami said.