The winners of the MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 have been revealed today at the Dubai GameExpo Summit powered by Pocket Gamer Connects.
The event shines a spotlight on the talented developers across the Middle East and North Africa. The lineup stars the top games, developers and service providers whose work has captivated players worldwide.
The winners were selected by a panel of 80 industry experts.
Top companies
The MENA Game of the Year award, sponsored by Xsolla Funding, went to DC Heroes & Villains from Jam City and Sandsoft.
The Best Developer accolade, sponsored by ID@Xbox, was presented to Mad Hook. The special Dubai Games Star accolade went to Yalla Group.
Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward came on stage to receive the Investor of the Year award, following the company’s ambitious $38 billion fund and investment activity, which included the acquisition of Monopoly GO! developer Scopely.
Another special award on the night, the MENA Market Legend award, went to Maysalward CEO Nour Khrais. The accolade recognises a person from the MENA region who has achieved a considerable amount of success in their career and has acted as a pioneer in, and made an outstanding contribution to, the regional games space.
Khrais has been a champion of Jordan’s games industry, as well as the wider MENA region, supporting new talent coming through, building a successful business with Maysalward and setting up the Jordan Gaming Summit.
You can view the full list of winners below.
DUBAI GAMES STAR
Winner: Yalla Group
Honourable mentions: DMCC Gaming Centre, Sawa Group
BEST GAMES STARTUP
Winner: Starvania
Honourable mentions: Nomadroid, Yalla Game
BEST GAME INNOVATION HUB/DISTRICT
Winner: DMCC
Honourable mentions: AD Gaming, NEOM
BEST TOOL & SERVICE PROVIDER
Winner: Xsolla
Honourable mentions: Audiomob, Tamatem Plus (Tamatem)
MOST INNOVATIVE GAME
Winner: AVO Escape Space (Game Cooks)
Honourable mentions: Fateel (Evolite Studio), The True Persian Love Story (Emeraldz Studio)
BEST ARABIC LOCALISATION
Winner: Assassin’s Creed: Mirage (Ubisoft)
Honourable mentions: Good Pizza, Great Pizza (TapBlaze) Good Pizza, Great Pizza (TapBlaze), HAWKED (The 4 Winds Entertainment)
BEST IN ESPORTS (SERVICE)
Winner: True Gamers
Honourable mentions: Power League Gaming, The Esports & Gaming Agency
BEST IN ESPORTS (TEAM)
Winner: Falcons Esports
Honourable mentions: Geekay Esports, NASR ESPORTS
BEST WEB3 GAMING (Sponsored by BlockchainGamer.biz)
Winner: WEMIX (Wemade)
Honourable mentions: Oneness Labs, Yayy
INVESTOR OF THE YEAR
Winner: Savvy Games Group
Honourable mentions: Level Up (NEOM), Shorooq Partners
BEST DEVELOPER (Sponsored by ID@Xbox)
Winner: Mad Hook
Honourable mentions: Jawaker, UMX Studio
BEST PUBLISHER
Winner: Tamatem Games
Honourable mentions: Babil Games, MBC Group
MENA GAME OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Xsolla Funding)
Winner: DC Heroes & Villains (Jam City/Sandsoft)
Honourable mentions: AVO Escape Space (Game Cooks), Hunt (NewGen Studio)
MENA MARKET LEGEND (Sponsored by PocketGamer.biz)
Winner: Nour Khrais (Maysalward)
Congratulations to all the winners, honourable mentions and finalists at this year’s MENA Games Industry Awards.
