Gaming is now one of the biggest audiences in the region. Niko Partners counted around 72 million gamers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt at the end of 2024. Saudi Arabia alone has more than 25 million, and Riyadh hosts the Esports World Cup, whose 2026 edition offered a US$75 million prize pool. For brands outside gaming, that is a large, young audience that is hard to reach through traditional media.
It is also an audience that rejects brands who show up uninvited. These are the approaches that work.
1. Start with the community, not the logo
Players respond to brands that make their experience better: a tournament with a real prize, a stream that is more fun, a useful item in the game. A logo placed on a screen they are trying to watch does the opposite. Before choosing a format, ask what your brand can give the community.
2. Work with streamers whose audience fits
Streamers and gaming creators are the most direct route in. Choose them by audience location, age and the games they play, not follower count. Let them integrate your brand in their own style. A café chain sponsoring a streamer's late-night sessions with a delivery code is natural. A script read word for word is not. In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, check the creator's advertising licence first.
3. Run or sponsor community tournaments
You don't need a world championship. Community and creator tournaments, run well, give players something to join and watch, and give your brand a reason to be there. They also produce plenty of content for your own channels.
4. Bring gaming into your space
Retail, food and entertainment brands have something publishers don't: physical locations. Watch parties, launch-night events, gaming corners and meet-ups with creators turn a shop, mall or café into part of the scene.
5. Create something players can use
In-game items, skins, codes and collaborations with game IP are the deepest form of integration. They take longer to arrange and need a publisher partner, but they live inside the game rather than around it.
6. Measure what matters
Track sign-ups, codes redeemed, visits and sales alongside views and engagement. Gaming campaigns are often judged on reach alone, which hides whether they worked for the business.
Where to start
For most lifestyle brands, the first step is a small, well-chosen streamer or tournament partnership in one market, measured properly, then scaled. Our team built campaigns with Epic Games, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Logitech and NVIDIA before founding HighGround. See our gaming and esports marketing service.
