هذه مقاطع من مقال لموقع Gamasutra بعنوان What You Need to Know About Breaking into the Arab Market (إضغط هنا)
حجم السوق بالأرقام و معدل تضخمه :
نوعية الألعاب الناجحة :
سبب نجاح ألعاب الملتي بلاير في المنطقة العربية و تركيا :
المنصات الأكثر انتشارا في العالم العربي :
الإجابة عن سؤال "هل نصمم ألعاب خاصة للعرب أم نكتفي بترجمة الألعاب الغربية فقط أم نكتفي فقط بتوزيع الألعاب الغربية كما هي ؟"
الرأي الأول (مستفز جدا و فيه نوع من الاستعلائية لكنه له مبرراته على أرض الواقع) :
الرأي الثاني (أؤيده و بشدة) :
عن ثراء الثقافة العربية و تأثيرها على الألعاب :
عن مصممي الألعاب و المبدعين العرب :
نقل الألعاب كما هي للعالم العربي دون فهم لطبيعة الجمهور خطوة غير موفقة :
عن عدم اعتماد المطورين و الناشرين الغربيين على ناشرين و شركاء محليين :
حجم السوق بالأرقام و معدل تضخمه :
video games are booming in the Middle East/North African market, just like they are in many other regions around the world. Last year, games generated an estimated $900 million (out of $24 billion for the global market).
And many predict the region's revenues will continue to shoot up in the coming years, even more so than in other areas. Research firm Ovum believes annual game revenues in the Arab market will more than triple by 2016 to $3.2 billion (29 percent compound annual growth rate versus 17 percent global growth).
نوعية الألعاب الناجحة :
"We also see games that you might not think of as being huge there," says Minton, who mentions there's even demand for Western-style RPGs. "Shooters are popular. Puzzle games are popular. When you begin to go down the list, it looks very similar to anywhere else in the world."
سبب نجاح ألعاب الملتي بلاير في المنطقة العربية و تركيا :
Peak Games, though, has found particular success with multiplayer synchronous titles that have a heavy emphasis on social aspects and communication between players. The company has adapted card games, tabletop games, and board games (e.g. backgammon -- culturally relevant games) as digital titles with that in mind.
Onur comments, "I think the reason these multiplayer games have been doing so well in these regions is that most of the time, people in emerging markets, especially in [Turkey], they don't have the liberties that a lot of people in the West have.
"It's much easier for people in the West, in North America, to just go out, meet people, and have conversations, whereas access to communication, people, or communities is much more restricted in a lot of the emerging markets because of the demographics and socioeconomic situations. I think a lot of the time, people use these games not only as just games as pastime but also as platforms to be able to connect with others."
المنصات الأكثر انتشارا في العالم العربي :
Facebook is still the king there
Onur makes sure to mention that mobile is also picking up in the region: "As a market in total, it's smaller than what it is in Asia or the Western markets right now, but the growth rate is really amazing. In the next 12 to 18 months, it's going to be a completely different scenario, with mobile becoming very viable and actually a big platform."
While the BlackBerry traditionally has been very strong in the region, most are turning their attention to iOS and Android smartphones and tablets now, as both are increasing their market share at a rapid pace. Already in many middle east & north Africa countries, the average number of mobile devices per person is more than one -- over two, in some areas.
Mobile and social aren't developers' only options, though. Minton adds, "With the internet penetration, [for] PC free-to-play, having client-based games is a tremendous opportunity since you can take care of the piracy issue, as has been done in China and in other regions, or at least keep it tamped down. Then you really come down to do you need to have servers in the region and so forth, which does get trickier. But some games, of course, the lag isn't as vital."
الإجابة عن سؤال "هل نصمم ألعاب خاصة للعرب أم نكتفي بترجمة الألعاب الغربية فقط أم نكتفي فقط بتوزيع الألعاب الغربية كما هي ؟"
الرأي الأول (مستفز جدا و فيه نوع من الاستعلائية لكنه له مبرراته على أرض الواقع) :
"I don't think that the question has been answered yet as to exactly what content needs to be localized into Arabic," he says. "Certainly, having greater respect for the region, it would intuitively seem as though it would make sense to [fully localize games], but also in some countries, there's a sense that if it's in English, it's cooler to the kids."
He believes publishers and developers should take advantage of that thirst many have for connections to the West and to Western entertainment -- whether through music, movies, or video games -- by not just considering bringing their games to the region but also playing up the foreign style and content.
"Those are things that are really loved in the region. It can be very easy seeing headlines in papers that there's a gulf that is insurmountable between the Middle East and the West. That's not at all the case. The vast majority of people thirst for and want these connections," Minton continues.
الرأي الثاني (أؤيده و بشدة) :
Onur, however, takes a different view on the importance of localization. In her opinion, developers shouldn't stop at simply swapping in Arabic text. "You can't expect to take a generic game off the shelf, like a city-building game for example, just translate it, and expect that it's going to be a hit as it was in the Western hemisphere. [Failing to make] cultural tweaks is not going to do you any good. The product does not scale. If anything, it's going to hurt your brand image as a company."
Some of those tweaks Peak makes with the third party games it publishes in the Middle East include something as simple as implementing region-specific holidays (many social games feature special events or content on holidays). Rather than celebrating Christmas or Easter, which have little relevance in a predominantly Muslim market, the games feature events for Ramadan or Eid al-Adha.
Onur adds, "In terms of the characters that are included, if it's a farm game, instead of having a Western-looking [farm worker], we have an Egyptian-looking man or a woman that's covered up wearing a hijab, according to cultural apparel and gear." She says it's critical that companies invest the time and resources to make these necessary changes.
عن ثراء الثقافة العربية و تأثيرها على الألعاب :
Another way developers can take an extra step to strengthen bonds between Arab players and their games is to draw inspiration from the history and stories the regions. Tousi calls the Middle East North African region the "greatest reservoir of storytelling ever. All of the three main religions, and a number of massive books of mythology all hail from that part of the world."
And because of a shared history in terms of stories between the Middle East and the West (e.g. Arabian Nights, the Bible), that kind of content won't necessarily alienate players outside of the region. "All of this historical culture and storytelling is actually very in common and speaks really well to the West," says Minton. "It's less unique than going, for example, between China and America, which is a tougher bridge in terms of finding commonality of mythos."
عن مصممي الألعاب و المبدعين العرب :
"It's good for developers to work with regional content creators or people who are in the business of creating content that's rooted in that region because they get access to a very, very rich universe, which I think is going to completely excite them to actually do the work," points out Tousi.
"What we always forget is that the business of gaming is far beyond dollars and cents. It's a creative environment, and it's driven by creatives. What is exciting about this region is that it's rich in terms of content for creatives who want to create that type of content. And I think that content can relate to a far greater market than just simply that region."
Even though the Arabic region is diverse, comprising different countries with extremely different cultures and dialects, working with a content partners in one of those countries could still go a long way toward helping a game from a Western team find an audience in the broader market. Their proximity to the other countries and presence in the same cultural milieu are advantages that shouldn't be discounted.
نقل الألعاب كما هي للعالم العربي دون فهم لطبيعة الجمهور خطوة غير موفقة :
Onur also re-emphasizes her point that developers need to have a strong understanding of local audiences, warning them not to make the same mistake some major Western publishers have made in Asia: "Consider PopCap or Zynga, who have launched their very successful franchises in China on platforms like Tencent. They've failed miserably and couldn't scale."
Meanwhile mobile developer Robot Entertainment, which has worked with local publisher Yodo1 to bring its game Hero Academy to China, was able to find commercial success by making considerable efforts to adapt its game to the country's culture, incorporating Chinese-themed fantasy characters and providing region-appropriate marketing.
Peak's chief strategy officer says the struggles of major Western companies in China underscore that emerging markets are "very, very different from what Western developers are accustomed to for North America and Europe, because these countries and geographies have different histories, different language, different political systems, different economies, and different religions. Everything is different."
عن عدم اعتماد المطورين و الناشرين الغربيين على ناشرين و شركاء محليين :
Another mistake Onur has seen is developers not thinking about or investing in local support services: "A lot of the time, I think global companies out there provide America or Europe more service than in emerging markets, especially because they can't monetize these users. But it's a chicken and egg situation; if you can't provide the necessary service that they deserve, they're not going to be loyal users.
