"Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Enterprise Development " divorce "Jim Forward" To develop local talent in the electronic games sector

DUBAI, 29 JANUARY / WAM / The Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, one of the institutions of the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai, announced the launch of a new accelerator program, “Game Forward”, in a strategic partnership with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, with the aim of empowering Emirati game developers and contributing to enhancing the growth of the emerging game development system in the UAE.

The concerned authorities will work to align their efforts with the Dubai Film and Electronic Games Office at the Dubai Media Council, in a way that contributes to supporting the electronic gaming system, in line with the committee’s strategy aimed at improving the electronic gaming sector, including supporting this “Game Forward” program in the future.

The new accelerator program provides a practical path that enables Emirati developers to transform their innovative ideas into commercially viable projects, which contributes to strengthening Dubai’s economy based on knowledge and innovation, in addition to benefiting from the great opportunities offered by the rapidly growing global digital games sector, as studies by the company Newzo, which specializes in electronic games market research, indicate that the revenues of this sector may reach 188.8 billion US dollars, or about 693.4 billion dirhams, in 2025.

The program includes many training and guidance workshops that allow Emirati developers to showcase their projects and experiences within a one-day event organized within the framework of the Dubai Digital Games and Sports Festival, which will be held during May 2026.

The teams that qualify for the final stage will have the opportunity to communicate with sector experts and pioneers, in addition to presenting their projects before a jury that includes an elite group of digital gaming sector leaders and investors, in addition to the possibility of winning financial grants.

The winning team, which is based in Dubai, will receive exclusive support after the end of the program, in addition to enabling it to expand globally and accelerate its growth outside the local market.

The Game Forward program is in line with the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, as it plays an active role in enabling national talents to participate in the fast-growing sectors of the future, and strengthening the innovation-based entrepreneurship system in Dubai.

The program forms part of the mission of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, which aims to accelerate and expand the presence of the Emirati entrepreneurship ecosystem, in addition to providing a long-term roadmap that contributes to facilitating the launch of 27,000 new Emirati companies by the year 2033. It coincides with the efforts of the Dubai Electronic Games Program 2033, which aims to place Dubai among the top 10 centers for the global electronic gaming sector and provide 30,000 new jobs related to this sector.

Ahmed Al Roum Al Muhairi, Acting Executive Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, said that the “Game Forward” program reflects our continued commitment to providing a vibrant environment that supports the entrepreneurship system in Dubai, and empowering Emirati talent and competencies in the rapidly growing digital sectors. We also seek to build an electronic gaming economy in its early stages by providing Emirati developers with training and mentorship opportunities, ensuring the continued pivotal role of local innovation in shaping the economic future of Dubai as a global center for the digital economy. The initiative highlights the importance of cooperation between the public and private sectors, which represents the distinctive feature of our approach towards economic transformation, in addition to continuing to provide support to entrepreneurs in various sectors.

Game Forward contributes to achieving one of the main priorities of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 by enabling Emirati talent to compete globally in technology-based sectors, and enhancing Dubai’s position as a leading center for launching innovations.

For her part, Shaima Rashid Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Arts, Design and Literature Sector at the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, pointed out that the Authority’s partnership in launching the “Game Forward” program embodies its cultural responsibilities aimed at supporting and empowering local talents, and motivating them to hone their experiences and develop their skills in the digital games sector, which contributes to the development of cultural and creative industries, and consolidates Dubai’s position among the top 10 global centers for the electronic games sector.

She said that the “Game Forward” program is a qualitative initiative that contributes to building an integrated system that supports game developers and entrepreneurs, and enhances their readiness to compete regionally and globally, by combining specialized guidance, practical experience, and linking them to networks of experts and investors, which is in harmony with the Authority’s sectoral priorities that aim to invest in Emirati competencies and creators, and provide qualitative opportunities that encourage them to innovate, and enable them to develop their ideas and transform their productions into economic value. Establishing new projects that constitute a qualitative addition to the local economy and contribute to consolidating Dubai’s position as a global center for the creative economy.

The program welcomes Emirati developers and teams that include at least one Emirati founder, and provides support to aspiring content creators with promising capabilities, as well as developers looking to expand the scope of their existing projects. The program will be launched in March 2026, to provide organized support according to four main strategic pillars: refining technical skills through educational lessons on designing games and ways to generate revenue from them and publishing them, and workshops on business readiness that include the market entry strategy, attracting users, and how to prepare to present the project to investors, and strategic supervision from experts in the electronic games sector and technical specialists, as well as integrating the system with resources from the headquarters of Dubai entrepreneurs with the aim of strengthening the startup community.

The Game Forward program enhances the efforts of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Dubai Culture towards integrating talent and the Emirati entrepreneurship ecosystem into Dubai’s growth process by establishing an effective path to nurture creators, content makers and game development studios in their early stages.

The program benefits from the innovation-based system provided by Dubai, the presence of a strong digital infrastructure and a supportive business environment that contributes to enhancing the global competitiveness of small and medium-sized companies in the electronic gaming sector, in addition to improving the levels of community participation through targeted touchpoints within the business system throughout the program period, which ultimately leads to empowering a new generation of Emirati entrepreneurs who enjoy flexibility and forward-looking thinking with the aim of shaping the future of the electronic gaming sector in the region.

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