Highlights
- Savvy Games and King Salman Science Oasis launched a "Next Gen Games Camp" to teach youth game development skills.
- The initiative leverages Saudi Arabia's 21M gamers to support Vision 2030’s goal of creating 39,000 specialized industry jobs.
- This collaboration bolsters the $38B gaming investment, aiming to establish 250 local companies and cement the nation as a global gaming hub.
Savvy Games Group has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with the King Salman Science Oasis to transform Saudi Arabia’s massive community of video game players into the next generation of digital creators. Kicking off with the launch of the Next Gen Games Camp under the banner theme "From Player to Game Maker", this landmark agreement aims to integrate practical game design directly into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
The centerpiece of this initial rollout is an intensive, 20-hour summer curriculum designed to give young people early, hands-on exposure to game creation without requiring any prior coding experience. Operating across morning and evening sessions for male and female students aged 10 to 17, the interactive camp divides participants into a junior track for ages 10 to 13 and a senior track for ages 14 to 17. By working collaboratively in teams, students build essential creative thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills as they turn original concepts into working game prototypes to compete for a best-in-camp title.
Beyond the summer camp, the broader agreement establishes an ongoing partnership that combines Savvy’s gaming expertise with King Salman Science Oasis’s long-standing legacy of promoting public science and innovation since 1985. Together, the two organizations will collaborate on structured game development training, specialized talent development programs, and shared industry events and competitions.
This initiative expands Savvy's wider campaign to embed gaming into the national education system, building on agreements signed with the Saudi Ministry of Education in February 2026 to integrate electronic games into general, university, technical, and vocational schools through new curricula and teacher training, as per Pocketgamer.biz.
Capitalizing on 21M Gamers for Vision 2030
This grassroots educational strategy is built to capitalize on one of the most vibrant, youth-driven gaming markets in the world. Current industry data shows that Saudi Arabia is home to more than 21M self-identified gamers, representing over 70% of the nation's total population, as reported by Saudi Gazette. By channeling this widespread domestic passion into practical digital career skills, the partnership serves as a core building block for Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Gaming and Esports Strategy, which treats gaming as a serious economic driver and a viable route into high-tech careers.
Backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Savvy Games Group has rapidly expanded to employ over 3,500 people globally across its major industry subsidiaries. To support its mission of making the nation a global gaming hub, Savvy previously announced plans to invest $38 billion USD into the gaming ecosystem.
Human capital initiatives like this partnership provide the long-term talent pipeline required to meet ambitious government targets, which include establishing 250 local gaming companies, generating 39,000 specialized industry jobs, and contributing 50B SAR to the national gross domestic product by the year 2030.
