Inside Gamers Without Borders’ unmissable MCIT learning hub

Are you dreaming of a career in gaming or esports?

Well, look no further than the final three weeks of Gamers Without Borders and its online learning hub aimed at helping Saudis grow into leaders in the next generation of game development and the wider esports business.

The Saudi Esports Federation – organisers of Gamers Without Borders – has extended its partnership with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) to bring gaming aficionados five unmissable learning opportunities the duration of this summer’s nine-week festival.

Building upon last year’s success which saw a whopping 20,000 participants from over 80 countries involved, the Saudi Esports Federation and MCIT co-developed five different programs for this year’s esports extravaganza, all designed to inspire innovation, share insights and to enhance the programming skills of gaming fanatics keen to carve a career in the gaming industry, all as part of the $10 million charity prize fund tournament’s Learning Hub.

It has already proved to be a massive hit this time around, and with three weeks left, organisers are now encouraging all would be gaming professionals to sign-up online to make the most of the invaluable learning opportunities the MCIT hub provides.

His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “We are proud to build on last year’s spectacular success of our partnership with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to bring an even bigger and better learning center to game development enthusiasts this year.

“On behalf of everyone at Saudi Esports, I want to thank the team at MCIT who helped bring the five tailor-made programs to life. Our aim for Gamers Without Borders is to connect, inspire and entertain the global gaming community – starting here in Saudi Arabia – while ensuring we leave no one behind by helping vulnerable countries in the ongoing rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.”

He added: “The learning platform is designed to help Saudis grow to be at the heart of the gaming boom and aligns with our mission to prepare future generations for a career in the gaming industry and we are excited to reintroduce such a fantastic educational program series.”

Launched back in June, the hub’s Digital Meetups in Electronics Games – part of the MCIT’s Thinktech year-round digital knowledge initiatives – invites gaming experts to various digital meetup sessions about the gaming development industry. Targeted at game programming fanatics, professional esports players, investors and entrepreneurs, the sessions aim to spread awareness about the world of esports, shed light on the challenges and opportunities following the pandemic.

Through partnering with leading global gaming experts and innovators Think Tech Talks for Gaming provides a virtual forum to share ideas and experiences from the game development industry. Attendance to the TEDx-like conference is open for everyone around the world interested in the field of game development 

This year also sees the introduction of the Gamers Without Borders’ Indie Games Competition, which acts as a program to motivate entrepreneurs to develop games capable of competing with the global games of Indy Game. Targeted at single-game companies, the competition strives to facilitate local expansion and access to new international markets.

The Learning Hub’s final program is a one-of-a-kind bootcamp titled Game Development Himma Bootcamp. Building on young Saudi Arabia’s game development passion and skills, the ongoing bootcamp provides participants with a comprehensive learning journey starting from game design and unity game engine, all the way to game environments game controlling and 2D and 3D sounds. Open exclusively to English-speaking Saudi nationals who hold a technical or IT bachelor’s degree, the lucky chosen participants will receive intensive training, career guidance, official certificate and the opportunity to explore career opportunities with the bootcamp’s partners.

Held under the theme of ‘No One Left Behind’, Gamers Without Borders will be donating $10million as it unites the gaming world in its second season of esports entertainment, all aimed at helping those in the most desperate need during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All the gaming action will be available to stream live via the Gamers Without Borders’ website, YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels.

Gamers of all abilities are encouraged to take part in Gamers Without Borders’ community tournaments – a free-for-all battleground, with daily marathon and play-and-go tournaments.