Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group and Neom have signed a memorandum of understanding to help the Kingdom in emerging gaming startups in their incubation and acceleration.
The collaboration is expected to boost the end-to-end gaming ecosystem of the country and support the National Gaming and Esports Strategy under the Saudi Vision 2030 framework.
The agreement solidifies a collaborative strategy between Nine66 Incubator Program of Savvy and Neom’s “Level Up” Accelerator, making sure that startups graduating from Savvy’s Incubator have the training, resources, and support necessary to progress efficiently into Neom’s Accelerator.
The Savvy-Neom partnership is based on the speedy development of both programs and will eventually contribute to the creation of a pipeline of investable gaming studios.
Savvy’s Nine66 Incubator Program has used to assist early-stage studios to test prototypes, develop fundamental capabilities, and be ready to engage with investors. Through this project, Savvy will be able to assist startups in becoming prepared to enter the next level of development and expansion.
However, the Level Up Accelerator by Neom offers funding and acceleration to scale and grow incubated studios into independent businesses. It has since expanded to a multiphase platform hosting more than 45 Saudi startups, rolling out 15 investments, and a 100 percent survival rate in its portfolio, exceeding many international standards.
Level Up has facilitated over 170 jobs with 17 international partners who provide publishing and support services, and has also achieved a historic first: a domestic startup in the gaming sector to sign a publishing deal internationally between Fahy Studio and UK-based publisher Kwalee.
Chief of Staff at Savvy Games Group, Amr Sager, said, “As the games industry continues to grow at a rapid pace in Saudi Arabia, there is an increasing number of programs and initiatives designed to help emerging studios and entrepreneurs to build, run, and scale their businesses.”
Sager further stated that this momentum is encouraging, and the next step would be the establishment of greater synergy and alignment among these efforts, so that the journey can be easier and clearer as startups can find the support they need.
