HP announced the launch of the HP Gaming Garage Academy at the Saudi Electronic University (SEU) in the capital, Riyadh. The goal is to provide a platform for students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to explore and hone their skills in esports management and game development, and prepare them for careers in media, information and communications technology, and esports.

The launch of the HP Gaming Garage Academy is a powerful initiative that encourages college and university students around the world to acquire the skills needed to enter the gaming and esports industry.

In this context, HP will support this endeavor through a variety of services, including the Gaming Garage platform for free online educational courses, in addition to its partnership with AMD, which specializes in the development of computer processors and related technologies. Equipping the new academy at the Saudi Electronic University with the latest generation of OMEN devices, equipment, and software

HP Gaming Garage: Equal Opportunity for Excellence

The academy's opening will include presentations by speakers from HP, AMD, and the Saudi Electronic University; it aims to introduce the academy and its objectives. Commenting on today's opening event, HP's General Manager in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said:Fadel Saad:

We are proud to have opened the new HP Gaming Garage Academy and to contribute through it to supporting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its efforts to become a global hub for excellence in the electronic gaming market. From this perspective, we at HP emphasize the need to empower young people and provide them with equal access to educational resources to achieve digital justice in its truest sense.

He added:

We also ensured that the academy includes a comprehensive approach that offers a variety of free courses specialized in game development and esports management, thus becoming an integrated platform that embraces gaming enthusiasts and helps them hone their skills, to contribute to driving the digital economy towards prosperity.

It is important to note that the opening of the HP Gaming Garage Academy supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in achieving its goal of becoming a leading global hub for gaming and esports by 2030, which could create more than 35,000 jobs and contribute to injecting investments worth US$13.3 billion into the country's economy.

Therefore, the Saudi Electronic Sports Federation aims to open 250 gaming companies in the Kingdom by 2030, and develop more than 30 integrated electronic games, to be among the top 300 games in the world by 2031.

Promote the objectives of the electronic games sector in the Kingdom

The gaming sector has witnessed unprecedented global growth over the past decade, transforming it into a major entertainment industry with significant economic, cultural, and technological impact. The number of personal computer (PC) gamers worldwide is expected to reach approximately 909 million by 2026, a 331-year increase compared to console gamers.

Given that the sector is rich in resources and unlimited potential, it offers a wealth of opportunities to employ young people and effectively contributes to advancing economic development by improving skills acquisition and supporting the innovation process.

HP has been working hard to provide the latest gaming devices at its academy so that the next generation of talented game developers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can take full advantage of the unique technologies it offers. The head of HP's education business division commented: Mayank Dhingra saying:

Upskilling the next generation of game developers and esports pioneers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a mission we are honored to fulfill at HP, as the Kingdom is home to approximately 23.5 million people
Video game enthusiasts, so we are fully confident in the capabilities of your young people and their tremendous potential to transform their passion
Through games, they become a profession from which they benefit and support their country through it.

In the same context, the President of the Saudi Electronic University, Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya bin Mardi:

Through this fruitful partnership, we intend to achieve our main objective, which is to train the youth of the Kingdom to become developers.
Exceptional players will shine in the esports sector at an international level, which in turn will contribute to supporting
Saudi Vision 2030 is to make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a global hub in this sector.

The latest technologies for next-generation content creators

Given HP's commitment to quality services, it made a point of providing the HP Gaming Garage Academy with the latest devices and equipment from its two leading brands, OMEN and HyperX. This package includes OMEN 16 laptops, OMEN 27-inch HD gaming monitors, and HyperX Cloud III wireless headphones.

OMEN 16 laptops are powered by Ryzen 9 6000-series CPUs from AMD, a launch partner of the HP Gaming Garage Academy.

Regarding this partnership, the director of AMD's Europe, Middle East and Africa branch said: James Blackman:

As AMD celebrates its 55th anniversary, we reaffirm our ongoing commitment to developing the most powerful educational technologies. We believe in the importance of integrating the latest technologies into educational materials to enhance student-centered learning and enrich their knowledge. Therefore, we are proud to partner with HP and the Saudi Electronic University to launch the latest HP Gaming Garage Academy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, highlighting the Kingdom's significant efforts in developing the gaming and education sectors.

He added:

AMD continues its innovations in processor development and the improvement of its technologies, producing generations that stand out for their speed, efficiency, and high performance. These developments are expected to contribute to a qualitative shift in the education sector and introduce completely new concepts in education and learning.

Planting the Buds of Creativity in the Next Saudi Generation

HP demonstrated its interest in sponsoring Saudi game developers earlier this year through the GameOn Challenge in collaboration with HP Gaming Garage, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where it supported teams of ambitious developers in developing their own distinctive games in an ongoing hackathon event.

The GameOn Hackathon kicked off on World Heritage Day, April 18th, with a challenge in which participants competed to develop a prototype game addressing themes related to culture and heritage. The initial sponsorship phase will conclude with the awarding of the best project to one of the participating teams on Thursday, June 13th, at the Saudi Electronic University.