Earlier this month, WN Media Group hosted a conference in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. It was attended by representatives of Apple, Google, Ubisoft, Unity, TikTok, Tilting Point, Stillfront Group, Riot Games, Huawei, and other companies.
Overall, 302 companies participated in WN Conference Abu Dhabi’24. Game developers accounted for 60% of the total, followed by service providers (39%). Other groups included publishers and investors.
WN Conference Abu Dhabi’24 attendees by company type (each could choose several options)
According to WN Media Group, the event was attended by 519 games industry professionals. 72% of them were C-level executives, followed by business development managers (15%) and game developers (8%).
WN Conference Abu Dhabi’24 attendees by job type
The general sponsor of WN Conference Abu Dhabi’24 was Abu Dhabi Gaming, which is focused on driving the growth of the UAE video game and esports industry.
Among other sponsors were Yandex Games, Moloco, Google, GEM Capital, Xsolla, Appier, TikTok for Business, Malpa, Appier, Liftoff, Audiomob, Airbridge, SunStrike, Strategy Park, HyperFactory, Futura, RoasUp, Brightika, Subscible, and JustMoby.
Over 80 gamedev teams participated in the on-site developer showcase. In addition, the WN Game Finder Contest was held as part of the conference, which received 56 applications from teams from Europe, Asia, and other regions. Here are the four winners chosen by the jury:
- Best Art — WorldShards, a puzzle title from Lowkick Studio;
- Best Storytellting — Midline ’85, an interactive thriller from NADSAT;
- Best Game Design — The Burst, a VR shooter from GoRapid Studio;
- Grand Prix — Peppered, a 2D platformer from Mostly Games.
Peppered
WN Conference Abu Dhabi’24 became WN Media Group’s first conference in the United Arab Emirates. The next big event will be held in Istanbul on June 11-12.
Below you can see some photos from the latest conference.
