• Growth in the laptop gaming segment was higher in Saudi Arabia than in the UAE.
• 55% of respondents in the UAE and 57% in Saudi Arabia would consider purchasing a laptop for gaming by mid-2021.
• Directly after the lockdown restrictions ended, UAE respondents (15%) purchased more gaming consoles than in the Kingdom (8%).

People in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including women, turned to gaming as a form of entertainment during the pandemic and the time spent on gaming have increased in these two countries.

Latest findings from a gaming survey conducted by research firm GfK in the two markets revealed that more than half of all the UAE and Saudi respondents increased their time spent on gaming.

In addition, the pandemic has also triggered a newly installed base of gamers in the UAE (+15 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (+10 per cent) with women accounting for over 40 per cent of this new base. The majority of new gamers overall were between the ages of 26 and 35.

“With social distancing and strict policies to curb Covid-19 being imposed by policymakers in both countries, gaming is still seen as one of the leading forms of entertainment, and more women turned to gaming to fulfil that void,” Shika Samuel, Analyst for IT panel at GfK, said.

The pandemic has significantly altered gaming habits on the three main devices – smartphones, consoles, and laptops.

Survey findings revealed that nearly 1.5 additional hours daily spent on smartphone gaming post lockdown.

Even though the number of gaming hours was reduced after the lockdown ended, Samuel said the time spent on gaming post lockdown was still higher than before it began as people continued to spend more hours playing games.

In the UAE, an additional 1.4 hours were spent daily on smartphone gaming after the lockdown ended, compared to before it began, and the duration is slightly higher, at 1.5 hours, in Saudi Arabia.

In the UAE, 52 per cent of respondents downloaded new games on their smartphones, with the average of AED50 spent in the past three months on in-app purchases. It was slightly less in Saudi Arabia with 44 per cent downloaded new games and made in-app purchases of approximately SAR42.

A quarter of the respondents in the UAE also looked at the app rating before downloading it, whereas one in five in Saudi Arabia did the same.

Almost a third of the UAE respondents also wanted the capability of playing offline, whereas only a quarter of Saudi respondents mentioned the same.

Among smartphone gamers, 31 per cent of the UAE respondents are bothered that they could not play the game offline whereas 25 per cent Saudi respondents mentioned the same.

Online purchases soar

Growth in the laptop gaming segment was higher in Saudi Arabia. Amongst those surveyed in the Kingdom, 57 per cent purchased a laptop for gaming compared to 49 per cent of those in the UAE.

Among this segment of gamers, online purchases of gaming titles were relatively higher in Saudi than that in the UAE, a trend that continues from before until after the lockdown period.

 The report also showed that 55 per cent of respondents in the UAE and 57 per cent in Saudi Arabia surveyed would consider purchasing a laptop for gaming by mid-2021.

The top five gaming genres amongst laptop gamers remained the same in both the UAE and Saudi

Arabia; Action, Adventure, Sports, Racing, and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG).

However, console gaming habits saw a significant change, wherein Saudi Arabia (+63 per cent) it increased more than the UAE (+55 per cent).

Also, more respondents (53 per cent) from Saudi Arabia are likely to buy gaming consoles, than UAE respondents (45 per cent), in the next six months. However, directly after the lockdown restrictions ended, UAE respondents (15 per cent) purchased more gaming consoles than in the Kingdom (8 per cent).

Amongst console gamers in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the top five types of gaming titles were also the same in both countries: Action, Adventure, Sports, Racing, and Arcade.

With restrictions still being imposed, Samuel said that more people are turning to gaming as a form of entertainment.

“We will most likely see a continued growth in time spent playing across all devices in the coming months. I believe that experience fosters a growing habit, and with more time for gaming, we will most likely see an increase in purchasing consideration for devices, accessories, and games as people might look to enhance their gaming experience.”

Where are gamers buying their device?

Online has registered unprecedented growth in recent months, thanks to multiple lockdowns, social distancing, and compelling online retailer promotions. Gamers have always preferred shopping for devices online as they are certain of the products they want to buy and look out for discounts on what could be considered as expensive gaming devices.

 Amongst PC gamers, 46 per cent in the UAE and 48 per cent in Saudi Arabia have purchased their PC used for gaming through the online channel. This number is higher for console gamers with 56 per cent in the UAE and 49 per cent in Saudi Arabia making their console purchases online.