For years, brands approached esports the same way they approached everything else: as a media buy. A logo on a stream, a campaign around a tournament, a presence that sat alongside the action rather than inside it.
That approach no longer works. Gaming and esports today isn’t simply a new audience — it’s a different kind of platform. One where audiences don’t just watch, they participate, respond, and expect something in return.
Nowhere is that shift more visible than in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s esports boom is changing brand strategy
Saudi Arabia has become the biggest global gaming and esports hub in the world. With a hand in development of the biggest games, through to the most must see events such as the Esports World Cup and the inaugural Esports Nations Cup, the country is now one of the main destinations for the entire industry and its fans, largely thanks to the National Gaming & Esports Strategy and Vision 2030.
This isn’t just good news for the Kingdom overall, but also for the 70% of Saudi citizens who identify as gamers. With more opportunities locally for those who want a career in the industry, with 39,000 jobs expected to be created in the industry by 2030, and those who just want to enjoy their passion, the local talent has more options than ever before. But so do local Saudi Arabia brands.
With 3.6 billion gamers worldwide, the audience that brands are engaging through esports is global, young, and digitally native. This is an audience that grew up online. Games are where they socialise, compete, watch entertainment and spend time with friends. The Esports World Cup provides a direct gateway into that audience, connecting local brands in Saudi Arabia to millions of fans watching and engaging from around the world.
With a golden opportunity to reach the young, digital native gamers across the country and beyond, local brands have embraced the industry. From supporting the biggest events, through to major activations, Saudi Arabia’s brands have entered the global gaming conversation, and this is how they did it.
Qiddiya, stc and Aramco anchor the esports experience
Qiddiya and stc were two of the first brands to embrace the National Gaming & Esports Strategy, joining the Esports World Cup as founding partners, while Aramco has built one of the most popular on-site locations at the event.
Across more than two dozen tournaments, thousands of players and over 200 Clubs, EWC brings together tournaments, entertainment, creators and global broadcast into one platform where brands can activate across multiple touchpoints throughout the season.
Qiddiya has been responsible for the player’s lounge at the Esports World Cup, giving the best gamers in the world a private and relaxing location to prepare for matches and decompress after leaving the stage.
Aramco’s Sim Arena has hosted the biggest sim racing events of the EWC, and given fans a chance to race against stars.
For brands like stc, their role wasn’t framed as sponsorship in the traditional sense. It was framed as performance and infrastructure.
Competitive gaming is unforgiving when it comes to infrastructure. Latency, stability, and consistency aren’t technical details — they are the difference between fair play and compromised competition.
By investing heavily in network optimisation, dedicated gaming servers and 5G coverage, stc effectively became part of the product itself. Not visible in the way a logo is visible, but essential in the way the experience is delivered.
All three of these brands at the Esports World Cup are crucial pieces of the event, and without them the high quality players, staff and fans expect would not be met. These partners have built their brands into the very fabric of the Esports World Cup, making their names synonymous with key landmarks at the heart of the event.
If you attend or watch the EWC, these brands will be heavily featured, because their support and activations are so integral to how the event works. That raises awareness among fans, and builds brand support as they are directly supporting the industry and event that the fans love.
Saudi Tourism Authority & Saudia Airlines make travel simple
With the Esports World Cup bringing thousands of international visitors to Riyadh every year, working with the Saudi Tourism Authority and Saudia Airlines provides natural synergy for everyone involved. The two brands made it easy for anyone attending or working at EWC to arrive in the Kingdom, lending their services and expertise throughout the planning stages to make sure everyone arrived when scheduled and as comfortably as possible.
For these brands, the opportunity wasn’t simply to attach themselves to the event, but also to smooth the journey into it.
From branded lounges and coordinated arrivals to curated experiences that helped visitors navigate Riyadh, the focus was on removing friction. The result was a more seamless experience on the ground and, just as importantly, a wave of organic content from players and creators documenting that journey.
When on the ground in Riyadh the STA also provided travellers with summer kits, helping those not used to the temperature in Riyadh beat the heat. By making every guest feel at home and making sure they had everything they needed to adapt to the unique way of life in Riyadh, these two brands formed a much deeper bond with gamers than many of the endemic partners thanks to the unique bonuses they offered.
Barns coffee & Al Baik keep gamers fed and caffeinated
I can safely say from personal experience, there are few better sights than a Barns Coffee when on-site at the Esports World Cup. With multiple locations around the venue, including in the player’s lounge, Barns keeps everyone at the Esports World Cup caffeinated and refreshed, which is welcome when some of our broadcasts run for 12 hours or more.
Much like Barns, Al Baik’s activations for the Esports World Cup kept things simple. Across the entirety of Saudi Arabia, the Esports World Cup limited edition Combo Meal was sold in Al Baik locations, with over half a million being sold during the event, bringing EWC into the daily fabric of lives in the Kingdom. Then, on site at EWC the Al Baik booth also offered ice cream to visitors, with more than 100,000 being handed out over the seven weeks of the event.
Events like the Esports World Cup are long. Broadcasts stretch over hours. Players, staff and fans are on their feet for most of the day.
Accessible, reliable food and beverage become part of the rhythm of the event. Barns, by simply being there at the right moments, became a constant presence throughout the day. Al Baik, by extending its offering beyond the venue into a dedicated EWC product, connected the event to everyday life across the Kingdom.
Neither brand tried to reinvent itself for esports. Instead, both leaned into what they already do well and applied it where it mattered.
This extends to other product focused brands as well. If you can provide a high quality product to gamers at an event where they don’t want to miss a second of the action, they will willingly take up your offer and, providing your product is high quality, will likely fall in love. The overall positivity around the EWC gives you a helping hand, but it will be the experience with your brand that fans remember most.
All of these brands have found great success activating in the gaming and esports world because of one basic thing; they kept things true to who they are. They leaned into what made them leaders in their respective fields, and delivered services, products and experiences to fans within those areas.
This opened their brand up to the thousands of international travelers who may not have heard of them before, getting products into their hands for the first time and creating new fans, and of course the local population, reaffirming their status as some of Saudi’s most successful brands.
The underlying principle is simple. Esports fans are receptive to any brand that genuinely supports their passion. You just have to position yourself as offering something that enhances their experience — whether that’s building a core part of the ecosystem, supporting their fandom with quality services, or simply being there at the right moment with the right product.
Show up with something worthwhile, and the audience will meet you halfway.
By Mohammed Al Nimer, Chief Commercial Officer, Esports Foundation.
