The Saudi mobile telecommunications company Zain Saudi Arabia, in partnership with esports platform PlayHera and Zain e-Sports, announced the establishment of PlayHera Middle East and North Africa (PlayHera MENA), with investments amounting to SR375 million ($100 million) over the next five years.
The esports platform is said to be the first in the region. The announcement was made during the LEAP International Technical Conference in Riyadh, said official sources.
The partnership reportedly aims to enhance the capabilities of esports professionals, nurture local talent in the region’s markets by creating an enabling environment for esports content creators and designers, and qualify popular content makers, through fast and highly developed quality services, by incorporating the latest technologies in this field, which will achieve best results by utilizing the digital infrastructure of Zain.
The move is also expected to contribute to attracting more individuals and companies involved in electronic games to interactive platforms.
The agreement signing was attended by the Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Haitham bin Abdulrahman Al-Ohali, was signed by the CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Deghaither, and the CEO of PlayHera Naif Mulaeb.
PlayHera is said to currently have 150,000 active players on its platform.