Kingdom of Gaming conference launches in Riyadh in December 2026

The gaming industry is getting a new major conference. Kingdom of Gaming, an inaugural event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will bring together developers, publishers, investors and executives to explore partnerships and investment opportunities across the sector.

The event runs December 1-3, 2026, at the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Center in Malham. Organizers are targeting over 20,000 attendees, 500 studios and developers, 300 exhibitors and sponsors, and 200 investors. The three-day program will feature over 200 speakers across four stages, covering investment, publishing, game development, emerging technologies, talent and esports.

Savvy Games Group, Ubisoft and Roblox are positioned as Global Gaming Leaders for the inaugural edition. Founding Partners include Tuwaiq Academy, NEOM and Amazon Web Services. Additional participants announced so far include PUBG Mobile, Unreal Engine, Tencent Cloud, Impact46 and Merak Capital.

Confirmed speakers include Sir Ian Livingstone, cofounder and General Partner at Hiro Capital; Julien Merceron, CTO at Bandai Namco Studios and Delphi Interactive; Riley Russell, head of U.S. Studio at Kojima Productions; and Omer Faruk Gungor, studio director at Motion Blur Game Studio.

The program will address key industry topics including gaming investment and ownership changes, AI in game creation, building gaming ecosystems, talent development and the growth of original IP. Programming will span a Main Stage, Investor & Startup Stage and KoG Academy, alongside workshops, networking sessions, investor meetings and executive roundtables.

The KoG Academy will focus on skills and game creation for emerging talent. A program called Made in the Kingdom, supported by Unreal Engine, will let creators develop and showcase work as part of the event. PUBG Mobile will also bring its World of Wonder creator ecosystem, showcasing content from Saudi student creators.

Amr Sager, Chief of Staff at Savvy Games Group, said in a statement: "Saudi Arabia is quickly becoming a global hub for games, esports and a thriving industry ecosystem for long-term growth. Bringing industry leaders, investment and technology partners and the gaming community together here in Riyadh can help to encourage future collaborations and ongoing opportunities."

Annabelle Mander, Executive Vice President at Tahaluf, added: "The gaming industry has evolved into one of the world's most creative and commercial sectors, but there are very few platforms that bring together every part of that ecosystem. Kingdom of Gaming has been built to connect the people making investment decisions, developing games, building technology and creating new business opportunities."

Kingdom of Gaming will combine business and investment programming with a consumer-facing festival experience for the Kingdom's gaming community. The event will be co-located with Black Hat MEA at the same venue.