Swarmio Media (CSE: SWRM) and Emirati-based telecommunications services provider Etisalat by e& announced their partnership that would accelerate bringing the proprietary Ember gaming esports platform to Middle East and North Africa.
Our partnership with etisalat by e& will bring the Ember platform to millions of gamers across the MENA region, beginning with the United Arab Emirates – one of the most robust gaming markets in the world.
Vijai Karthigesu, CEO of Swarmio
Swarmio’s Ember gaming and esports platform was initially launched on November 28 under the brand name Arena Esports to target etisalat by e& consumers, and is expected to be expanded to additional territories in the near future.
Karthigesu added that the average Ember user spend is extremely high on micro-transactions such as digital content, skins, and accessories. According to the data cited by the firm from SuperData, micro-transactions made up 88% of digital games industry revenues in 2020.
He expects the similar behavior in the MENA region “where many citizens do not own a credit card, and thus have been unable to buy digital content while playing video games.”
“Swarmio allows these under-served gaming communities to fully participate in games in a similar way to the US and European markets, which currently generate more gaming revenue due their higher credit card penetration rates,” Karthigesu added.
In a recent statement, the Swarmio chief relayed that average monthly spend on the platform is said to be $53.50 per user, which is based on one of the firms initial partnerships, and is “much higher than the company anticipated.”
READ: Swarmio Reports Average Monthly User Spend Of US$53.50 On Ember Platform
Subscribers to Arena Esports will have access to all of the Ember platform’s features, such as an ultra-low-latency playing experience, exclusive gameplay, unique digital products, online store, and alternative payment channels integrated by the “Swarmio Pay” gamer e-wallet.
The platform also allows gamers to buy digital content, skins, and accessories directly within the platform via direct top-up, eliminating the need for them to halt their game play to enter a validation code.
The etisalat by e& partnership is the result of Swarmio’s previously announced telco distribution deal with WestBridge Telecom, under which WestBridge would distribute Swarmio’s Ember platform to its telco clients in the MENA area.
READ: Swarmio Adds Distribution Partner For Gaming Platform In Bid To Expand Middle East Presence
Swarmio created its proprietary Ember gaming and esports platform as a co-branded SaaS-based offering for telecoms to include in their “bundle” service packages to improve customer retention and average revenue per user.
The MENA gaming market is estimated to be around $1.78 billion and is predicted to reach $5 billion by 2025, with gamers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt accounting for the majority of this increase. The region is considered the fastest growing gaming market in the world, with an estimated 377 million gamers and growing.
The recently announced partnership is just one of the telco partners in Swarmio’s pipeline to expand its distribution of its platforms. In a recent The Deep Dive interview, Karthigesu encouraged investors to watch for the firm’s future “[gaming] publisher partnerships and telco partnerships.”
“As we bring in more telcos, that means that we are getting access to more character user base. And as we partner with more partners in the gaming industry, that means that we are bringing in more games, more solutions, and more inventory–getting into the whole gaming value chain in a meaningful way,” he added.
Swarmio Media last traded at $0.05 on the CSE.
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