Saudi Arabia Plans Gaming District In Qiddiya, The Mega Entertainment City

Saudi Arabia has announced plans for a gaming and e-sports district in Qiddiya, a mega-city projected as entertainment hub. According to The National, the gaming district will be set up on 500,000 square metre of land and aims to host up to 25 e-sports team at a time. It will also have regional headquarters of more than 30 video game companies, the outlet further said, quoting Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC). The firm estimates 10 million visitors annually by the year 2030.

Qiddiya City as a whole will attract 48 million a year, it had previously predicted.

The plan for the gaming district was floated earlier this month. It will be one of the four dedicated e-sports venues, The National said.

The venues will have a combined peak capacity of 73,000 and host a year-round calendar of some of the biggest e-sports tournaments.

"The innovative gaming and e-sports district is set to offer a unique, engaging, gamified experience to both its visitors and residents," Abdullah Aldawood, managing director of QIC, told the outlet.

The project plans to capitalise on the growing online gaming industry, which is projected to grow annually at a rate of 5.47 per cent. It is expected to reach a market volume of US $34.11 billion by 2028.

Qiddiya was unveiled by Saudi Crown Prince earlier this month. It is being constructed on the outskirts of Riyadh.

The colossal project is part of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to develop and diversify Saudi Arabia's economy, reducing the country's reliance on oil revenues and creating thousands of job opportunities for the youth, a report in Arab News said.

The work on the Qiddiya project began in 2019.

The project will include 60,000 buildings covering an area of 360 square kilometres and is expected to eventually have more than 600,000 residents, QIC said.

Qiddiya City is also expected to create more than 325,000 jobs.