Gamers from around the globe gathered in the Middle East & North Africa’s First Leading Games Conference, which took place at Mar Mikhael Train Station, Beirut – Lebanon, with more than 30 Speakers from 17 Countries. The event is ongoing until tomorrow the 8th of April. The MENA Games Conference includes more than 60 Workshops and Presentations, a 48 Hours Hackathon Competition, and more than 600 attendees.
After Mr. Burak Balik, founder of Bogazici ventures spoke, Mr. Nagi Abboud, representative of Minister Boutrous Harb, highlighted the role of the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications as a key enabler to the creation and development of a powerful gaming industry in Lebanon and the region. Mr. Abboud also shared the Ministry’s Vision 2020 to build state-of-the-art networks and infrastructure, thus providing the Lebanese gamers with the essential tool to materialize their potential and change the country’s economy.
In his welcome note, IFP Group Chairman, Mr. Albert Aoun confirmed that the MENA Games Conference represents the group’s commitment to the bright future of the gaming industry, as it grows its networks and partnerships with leading organizations and other leading conferences in the world, announcing the latest addition to the MENA Games this year: the Celebrity Games Challenge. Led by former Minister Nicolas Sahnaoui, and powered by PlayStation, the challenge welcomed several Lebanese celebrities.
Alfa Chairman and CEO, Mr. Marwan Hayek, underlined the influential role of Alfa in the Lebanese gaming industry through supporting developers and providing the infrastructure, and latest technologies and services that cater for their needs such as operator billing, real-time charging, and APIs. He added: “through our 3G+ and 4G LTE networks we are offering high speed internet thus facilitating the way for developers and soon with the 4.5G LTE network currently being deployed, a Nationwide LTE-A coverage will be provided offering users unprecedented speeds of up to 300mbit/sec”.
Mohammad El Saadi from Google talked about “developing on Android and finding success on Google play. On the other hand, Sho Sato from Media Create discussed the recent conditions of Asian game market.
Felix Mertikat discussed the importance of concept art and having a unique style in game design, while David Wessman and Zachary Hajj from Impeller Studios taught their audience on how they built Starfighter Inc. with distributed development. Shady Selim also taught the audience on how to extend an existing Unity game to run on an Android device.
Lebanon…. A Gaming Hub?
Greenarea.me met a number of enthusiastic gamers and investors in the digital field, who told us all about this virtual but “realistic” world they enjoy. Rana Chahine Aoun from SODETEL, an internet provider in Lebanon, told us about the services provided by the company, mentioning the company’s competitive prices to encourage corporate use.
Sony corporation, holding one of the most famous game “Play station 4” participated in the conference “to experience combining networking and the PS4 at the same time”, said SONY representative at the conference. “You download lots of games online, and purchase them online, but you need to have the right network in order to enjoy playing against multiplayers online”, she said. Responding to our question about players’ and gamers’ interaction in the conference, she said that the gamers were surprised, because PS4 did not participate in last year’s conference, and the major focus was on android, tablet, mobile, and how the experience could be combined”.
Basem Boustani, a gamer who loves gaming since he was a kid, tells us with passion that he was always interested in how games work. Not only that, but Bassem also changes and modifies the games he plays and creates new levels sometimes, sharing them on the internet. Recently, the passionate player has been attending workshops and game jams organized by accelerators in Lebanon. After being invited to the workshop, he found it interesting to learn more about game development and about the regional market. “I’m excited, I’m seeing more people than I expected, it gives me hope that Lebanon will grow into a gaming hub”, he says. But what do we need to become a gaming hub? According to Boustani, sees that we need the infrastructure and the motivation. He seems optimistic saying that “exciting things are ahead in Lebanon”.
Klarissa Chwah, winner of the first prize in a game designing competition, along with her 3 other team mates, thinks that this event is a great opportunity for Lebanon. She is a character designer and a graphic designer. She looks forward to know more about gaming in this event. About Lebanon’s ranking on the international level in gaming, she says that “we cannot yet compete with Japan and the USA at the moment, due to bad internet connection”. We do not have a national gaming competition in Lebanon yet.
“Beirut Digital District” representative explained to greenarea.info all about the BDD districts, which are working on environmental friendly digital spaces including residential spaces. Their aim is to improve the digital industry in Lebanon, facilitating at the same time all resources needed by people working in that sector.
Environmental events were also present at the event, with Lebtivity.com, providing all the recycling and upcycling centers in Lebanon. In addition to that, they provided a simplified way to recycle, aiming to end the waste crisis in Lebanon.
The MENA Games Conference is exceptional compared to similar events in the region. It is a unique platform for local companies to establish and grow the gaming ecosystem of the region, and benefit from the international participants’ knowledge and expertise to globally expand and develop. The conference is also a valuable place for international companies to meet the local industry’s key players (from game developers and publishers to media and communication partners) and gather insights about the MENA market.
For its second edition this year, the MENA Games Conference will explore the development of games for local Arabic audiences, the expansion and investment opportunities for international companies, and the value of strong and collaborative partnerships between the MENA gaming companies and global firms.
Reporter: Zeina Nasser:
VideoGrapher: Driss Malliti
Video Editor: Ahmad Farhat
Twitter: @greenareaen
