Gamers in Saudi Arabia have been making the most of the COVID-19 pandemic; sales of videogame hardware is up over 30 per cent in the Kingdom for the first half of the year.
It is thought that as gamers from the UAE and Saudi Arabia prepared themselves for a few months indie, they stocked up on gaming gear for the occasion.
Gaming notebooks led the spike with a 32 per cent increase, while games consoles were up 31 per cent. Gaming and leisure devices (that’s games accessories and peripherals) were up 17 per cent.
That means there has never been a better time to be a gamer in The Kingdom.
The news comes from GfK’s Point of Sales tracking of the gaming industry in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The games hardware industry alone saw a spike of 29 per cent in the region (bringing the overall value of the market us US$256 million).
The tracking was done from January to June. The fastest growing categories were gaming monitors and PC peripherals, such as keyboards and mice. Those went up almost 100 per cent on the previous year.
Gaming laptops and headsets also saw a huge boon to sales.
The gaming industry as a whole has been marginally affected by the global pandemic. Indeed, it has seen huge growth in player numbers as those who previously wouldn’t pick up a controller to save their virtual lives looked for alternative entertainment during lockdown.
Bonus: Check Out Our Favourite Gaming Laptop of 2020
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