The 3rd edition of the Morocco Gaming Expo has launched. For four days, the exhibition will showcase developers, gamers, cosplay characters inspired by video games and anime, alongside companies specializing in gaming accessories.
Visitors will also be able to discover the latest technological advances.
“The challenge is to develop a gaming industry in Morocco, especially since the global market represents approximately $300 billion. Our goal is to reach 1% of this market, as this sector can become an alternative solution to the employment challenges we face, like many other countries,” said Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, Morocco’s Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication.
The organization of this event comes at a time when Morocco wants to develop the video game industry and encourage young people to get involved in programming, design and e-sports, within a global market estimated at several billion dollars.
“Our perception of Africa, North Africa, and the MENA region in general is changing radically, because initially, we thought: yes, we're being considered for creating games, but not for selling them. And we thought: okay, we can recruit in Africa, but we can't sell in Africa. And things have been changing radically lately. There's really, I would say, a market awakening. There's clearly much more interest. And that's also due to the fact that they identify more now, because these are African products intended for an African audience,” said Kawtar Jalili, founder of the game studio Kiddo Interactive.
Moroccan developers are striving to establish themselves as major players in the global video game industry. With a global market estimated at some $300 billion, the challenge for many companies present at the Rabat video game show is how to capture 1% of that pie.
“Artificial intelligence facilitates video game development, particularly in terms of art, such as graphics. If the budget is insufficient to develop a game or hire developers and graphic designers, AI can help in this case. I still think it hasn't yet reached the level of what humans can create, but it saves time,” explained Ayman Jbari, game developer at AJB Game Studio.
For its 3rd edition, the Morocco Gaming Expo welcomes more than 100 exhibitors from 24 countries, including the United States, South Korea and France, until May 24th.
