Globally, e-gaming is gaining an increasing momentum. It is no exception in the Middle East including Jordan. Proof of this surge could be mirrored in the $22 million that was spent on this growing sector in 2023, and it is expected to increase even more amounting to $38 million in the next five years. In Jordan, the Jordanian Strategy for E-Gaming and E-Sports 2023-2027 has been released serving the purpose of maximizing the contribution of electronic games by 1% to the GDP. Aligning with this promising scene, Orange Jordan sponsored the "Yarmouk University Computer Games Competition” to boost university students’ skills in the electronic games designing arena.

The competition took place in the Faculty of Information Technology and Computer Science laboratories at Yarmouk University on July, 25th. Teams of 2 to 4 members representing students from all Jordanian Universities competed to design games that tackle environmental, and community service issues in addition to covering entertaining themes.

The benefits associated with the development of electronic games are interchangeably two-fold. On the national economic front, it significantly contributes to economic growth and creates job opportunities. On the personal growth front, it helps females and males enhance their thinking and problem-solving skills which in turn enables them to contribute to the national development process more effectively. The first-of-its-kind competition organized by Yarmouk University, aimed to motivate students to utilize their creative skills when it comes to e-gaming design to keep pace with this rapidly growing sector and be able to get the best out of the aforementioned benefits.

Commenting on these movements in the electronic games sector, Orange Jordan stated that this sport has gone beyond just being an entertaining activity to become a vital component of economic growth as it attracts talented people, tackles unemployment challenges, and enables females and males to unleash their creativity going beyond their limits to touch on new areas of capabilities. Orange’s keenness to support this competition is in perfect alignment with the Jordanian Strategy for E-Gaming that strives to create 3000 job posts within the 5 next years, establish 4 gaming training centers, and encourage 5 international companies to invest in this sector, in addition to 20 startups and SMEs.

Orange extended its heartfelt congratulations to the winners whose prizes were offered by the company and added to the winners’ Orange Money wallet.

Winners included the Junior Bird team representing the Applied Science Private University which won first place, the Cat Journey team from the Jordan University of Science and Technology that came in second place, and the Dead Dirt team from the University of Science and Technology which won third place.

From its end, Yarmouk University expressed its appreciation of the interest the competition cultivated in its very 1st edition reflecting the nationwide belief in the importance of promoting this sector which is becoming part of the future.

It valued Orange Jordan’s support and continuous presence in nationwide events which leads to such successes and advancements in all sectors.

It is worth mentioning that the International Esports Federation was established in South Korea in 2008, to serve as the main international entity that supervises and manages esports-related activities. Currently, 109 countries are members of the Federation including Jordan that in turn moves firmly to place its position on the global map, especially with the organization of the Esports Future Summit, the first of its kind in the Arab world, last April. With this in place, local competitions such as Yarmouk’s contribute to these national endeavors.

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