Hereditary Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai is enticing thousands of qualified immigrants – from the gaming industry – with a visa tailored to their needs. Developers, programmers, but also ‘influencers’ can register. Dubai wants to attract 30,000 professionals to the country to build a leading gaming industry – three times the size of Germany’s. However, Dubai on the Arabian Peninsula competes with the Saudi ‘Blood Prince’ Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who allegedly ordered the particularly brutal murder of dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018, not only has plans for dazzling desert cities, but also dreams of turning Saudi Arabia into the center of video games to make the world. He has spent more than a billion euros buying the most important league for competitive gaming: the ESL tournaments with tens of millions of dollars in prize money are planned. But why are two extremely wealthy oil sheikhs in their forties so interested in computer and video games? A search for clues.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
