Michael Ellis, Senior Commercial Partnerships Manager, M+C Saatchi Sport & EntertainmentGaming isn’t niche. In the Middle East, it’s already mainstream, and most brands are still treating it like an experiment.
Across the MENA region, there are tens of millions of active gamers, with estimates showing approximately 68–72 million gamers across key markets such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt alone, according to PwC, and that number continues to grow rapidly.
And when you look at engagement, gaming becomes even more compelling. Players in the region are spending significant time in-game and across gaming platforms, often exceeding time spent on traditional media formats.
Gaming in the Middle East has never been more commercially attractive. Audiences are young, highly engaged, and spending more time across platforms such as YouTube, Twitch and TikTok than ever before. Yet despite this, a growing number of brands are quietly asking the same question: why aren’t our gaming partnerships delivering the impact we expected?
On paper, gaming partnerships look incredibly successful. Campaign reports are filled with impressive metrics – millions of impressions, high engagement rates, and hours of watch time that rival traditional media channels.
But beneath these numbers lies a more uncomfortable reality. Reach does not always translate into relevance, and engagement does not always drive action.
The disconnect often starts with how success is defined. Too many brands enter gaming partnerships with a narrow focus on ROI – expecting immediate, trackable returns in the same way they would from performance media.
But gaming doesn’t operate like a traditional channel. It sits closer to culture than it does to media, and its value is often built through credibility, community and consistency. When campaigns are judged purely on short-term ROI, they risk being labelled as underperforming before they’ve had a chance to deliver real impact.
At the same time, rights holders and platforms don’t always make this easier. Audience scale is often overemphasised, while the role of the partnership within the broader marketing funnel is less clearly defined. The result is a mismatch of expectations – where brands expect conversion, but campaigns are only designed to deliver awareness.
A more effective approach is to expand how success is measured. What we call the 3 R’s of partnerships: return on investment, return on objectives, and return on activation.
Did the campaign achieve what it was meant to do? Did it land with the audience in a way that felt native to the platform? And did it contribute meaningfully to the brand? If those three aren’t aligned, the campaign was never set up to win.
There are clear signs that the industry is evolving. Across the region, brands are moving away from one-off activations and towards more integrated, platform-native approaches.
On platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, creator-led storytelling is replacing interruption, with brands playing a role within content rather than around it. On Twitch, partnerships are becoming more community-driven, integrating into live experiences in ways that feel additive rather than intrusive. In-game integrations and interactive formats are also creating more meaningful touchpoints between brands and audiences.
A strong example of this can be seen in Heinz’s gaming activation, where the brand leaned into player behaviour rather than interrupting it. Influencers began marking hidden in-game spots across titles such as PUBG, Counter-Strike and Fortnite, creating a ripple effect that spread organically across the community.
What started as a simple mechanic evolved into over 150 hidden locations, generating more than 4,800 minutes of streamed content and over 220 million earned impressions. It worked because it wasn’t built for visibility – it was built for participation.
So what does an effective gaming partnership actually look like in practice?
It starts with clarity of role. Every partnership should be anchored to a defined objective – whether that’s awareness, consideration, or conversion. Trying to achieve all three at once often leads to diluted outcomes.
The second is creator alignment. The most effective campaigns are built with creators who hold credibility within their communities, not just reach. When creators are treated as partners rather than distribution channels, the work feels more authentic, and audiences respond accordingly.
Third is platform-native execution. Each platform has its own behaviours and expectations. What performs on TikTok will not translate directly to YouTube or Twitch. Campaigns designed specifically for each environment consistently outperform those that are repurposed.
Finally, measurement needs to evolve. Success should be assessed across return on investment, return on objectives, and return on activation – providing a more complete view of performance.
The Middle East is uniquely positioned to lead the next phase of growth in gaming and esports. With strong investment, a young population, and a rapidly expanding ecosystem, the foundations are already in place.
Gaming isn’t a channel you can simply buy into, it’s an environment you have to build within. The brands that succeed will be the ones that show up in ways that feel native, relevant, and built for the audience.
By Michael Ellis, Senior Commercial Partnerships Manager, M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
