Serious Games Oman's big opportunity

From training armies, marketing cultural sites, promoting tourist resorts to increasing sales of fast food, the serious games industry has taken off as an innovative way of truly engaging and educating today's technologically-sophisticated audience.

"Using virtual worlds, simulation and social networking platforms, serious games deliver real training, education and marketing benefits," says David Wortley, Director, Serious Games Institute (SGI), Coventry University and keynote speaker at Knowledge Oasis Muscat's (KOM) annual Serious eGames Conference held at the Middle East College of Information Technology.

"If you thought video games were only for fun then you had better think again. The serious gaming industry isn't just about the youth market - far from it," said Hilal Al Ahsani, CEO, Public Establishment for Industrial Estates and organizer of the Serious eGames Conference.

Recent IBM and Sony Computer Entertainment figures paint a very different picture, several of these statistics are particularly relevant to the use of games for learning, as well as promoting tourism, heritage and culture. The average game player is now 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years. Other figures show that 38% of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (31%) than boys age 17 or younger (20%).

Commenting from the sidelines of the conference, Mohammed Al Maskari, KOM's Director General, says:

"industry research clearly suggests that the demand for serious games will only increase. One reason could be that far more adults - rather than teens or children - are playing video games today. In this sense, video games are much like movies, people don't just stop watching movies after they outgrow Disney. They just switch to different types of movies. It's the same in the gaming industry - adults still want to play games, they're just choosing different types of games."

According to the Entertainment Software Association 70% of major employers utilize interactive software and games to train employees. The study data also showed that more than 75% of businesses already offering serious game-based training plan to expand their usage in the next three to five years. "In brief, serious games has multiple applications that are relevant to Oman's health, education, training, tourism and culture sectors and it's a market that is growing rapidly," says PEIE's CEO.

In hard cold cash, PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates that the video game market will increase from $31.6bn in 2006 to $48.9bn in 2011. This makes video games the third-fastest-growing segment of the entertainment and media market after TV distribution and Internet advertising.

Man has always used games to develop skills and understanding but it's only over the past few years that people have begun to wake up to the importance of video games; culturally, artistically and economically. "Whether you're in running a tourist resort, teaching in a school or college, or running a local art gallery or museum, serious games have a role to play in what you do," comments Al Maskari.

"The takeaway is clear," says Wortley, "Spurred by the new generation of consoles and handhelds, and by increased penetration of broadband and wireless technologies, the serious games industry in Oman is ripe with opportunity. Given Oman's demographics it's more than apparent that there's a lot of unlocked commercial potential. In this regard, we were delighted to sign an MoU with KOM and MECIT. This landmark agreement will take forward three pilot projects that will develop serious games projects in culture, tourism and real estate."