Saudi Arabia Produces First Ever Arabic Language Video Game

It may be surprising, but Saudi Arabia has one of the highest number of gamers when it comes to online video games. Cultural difference has set Saudi Arabia apart from other countries and that includes the world of entertainment and with limited access to movie houses or clubs, we wonder what makes them similar to others and that alone would have to be in the form of video games. According to NPR, Semanoor is a company in Saudi Arabia that produced the first ever Arabic language video game called, "Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta".

Ahmed Jadallah, director of development for Semanoor revealed that the storyline of "Unearthed: Trail of Battuta" revolves around two siblings who ventured on a treasure hunting scheme. Ibn Battuta was an Arab explorer in the 14^th century and is the author of his own travel experience through all over Africa and Asia. The video game did not spark any violent related actions, but rather a more subtle side of the Arabic community wherein the characters were lost in transition that lead them to eventually discover more secret treasures. The game also tackled the role of women in the Arab community, giving them more freedom to dominate by creating the character of Dania, a female archaeologist who was created to wear the typical head cover for Arab women, but rides a bike and vehicles in a desert chase.

The gaming market in Saudi Arabia has been one of the most lucrative form of revenue in their system. The trend of gamers paying a significant amount of money in order to level up their game has also been the target of game developers because it's where the money comes in. These people are dubbed as the "whales" paying roughly around $5,000 to get the level they want, any game developer would welcome these "whales" in their game.

The video game "Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta" according to its Official Website is available in 24 languages in terms of its subtitles and its menus. The adventure of treasure hunter Faris Jawad and his archaeologist sister Dania starts when Faris visits Morrocco and starts the adventure trail all over the Middle East area. The treasure hunt will be marred by attacks of other treasure hunters who has the same purpose of finding the treasures for their own business of "antiquities smuggling". The game "Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta" is currently presented in the the Middle East, but aims to target its world wide audience.