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A quick quiz. What place in the world has a 10-year plan for esports? If you answered the United Arab Emirates and Dubai in particular, you would be right.
Such visions aren’t new to this place. Dubai started as a fishing village in the 18th century. It got its first airport in 1960 and it started dredging its port in 1963. Dubai publicist Tony Lewis remembers coming over to visit when the first golf course was just a dream back in the 1980s. The sheikh at the time decided a grass golf course in the sands would attract business tourists.
With the approval of the royal family, the course was built in 1988, and it was the beginning of a vision to turn Dubai into a tourist destination. Now it has a giant luxury shopping mall, the tallest building in the world — and a fledgling game and esports industry.
I attended the second annual Games for Change Summit on Abu Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in December, where esports players competed for big prizes and Ferrari race cars drove around the hotel as game wonks pondered the future of the industry. I stopped in Dubai on my way to the Games for Change event recently and spoke with Marwan Al Zarouni, strategic advisor for Dubai Economy and Tourism and CEO of the Dubai Blockchain Center.
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We talked about the long-term vision that it takes to create a game industry in a place that has little history for it. It is a vision that persists despite the war in Gaza and the tragic events of October 7 in Israel. Dubai has its issues, of course, but it is far better off than other places like Gaza, due in no small part to the decisions of its leaders, wrote Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times Columnist.
There is a hope for peace and progress attached to this vision, but we will only see if that can come true over time. I was impressed with the effort going into gaming and esports in Dubai. And I would certainly agree that gaming brings cooperation, peace and prosperity to the world.
Here’s an edited transcript of our interview with Al Zarouni.
