Category Archives: Middle East

Tomb Raider is the first Square-Enix title to be localised in Arabic, and with it, a new Lara voice actor has been revealed. Nadine Njeim takes the lead role. Find out more about the localisation and Njeim after the break.

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Ubisoft Abu Dhabi is the latest addition to the company’s growing family of studios. The business has confirmed that the studio’s key function will be to create online titles “for everyone” and more. Get the details after the break.

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Blizzard issued a response regarding the inability to access Battle.net or World of Warcraft servers from Iran. According to the post, the issue stems from applied US sanctions instead of government bans on specific content – although the latter is still true as well.

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A number of MMOs have become inaccessible from inside Iran, apparently due to government bans on specific content.

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BioWare has announced Star Wars: The Old Republic has officially launched in more European countries and the Middle East. Hit up the list here. Thanks, Talkar.

The Daily Star reports Iran has instituted a ban on the sale of Battlefield 3 over controversial content set in capital city Iran. EA is actually quite pleased by this turn of events.

“In that Battlefield 3 is not available for purchase in Iran, we can only hope the ban will help prevent pirated copies reaching consumers there,” the publisher told IndustryGamers.

Ubisoft and twofour54, the Media Zone Authority in Abu Dhabi, have announced the upcoming opening of a new Ubisoft development studio in Abu Dhabi, which is the first time a major games publisher has established a direct presence in the GCC.

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Sony has announced western date and price details for its new handheld, Vita – but given no indication of launch line-ups or 3G data pricing.

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And round and round we go. Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis has told GI that 360 is well ahead of PS3 in EMEA.

“If you look right across my area of responsibility, every data point that I’ve got, which I trust – and data points we’ve always used – put us approximately 1 million units ahead in the aggregate,” he said.

Lewis is using GfK Chart-Track, figures, he said, and it talking specifically about EMEA – Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This grouping doesn’t include Australia and New Zealand, which will be added to Sony’s figures when they talk about the PAL region.

Next up: David Reeves says Chris Lewis is wrong! Keep that breath bated while you wait.

Sony has just announced that LittleBigPlanet will be released “no later than the week commencing Monday November 3 in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.”

“We appreciate all the enthusiasm surrounding this much anticipated title and we would like to thank PlayStation fans for their support and understanding,” says the statement.

The game was originally withdrawn from retail by Sony after it was revealed that two sentences from the Qur’an appeared in a song on the game’s soundtrack.

Last Friday, Sony confirmed that the US will be getting the game “in week of” October 27 and now we have the European release date it is (hopefully) business as usual from here on in.

By Mike Bowden

Speaking at what is supposedly the Middle East’s first gaming conference, GAMES08, in Dubai this week, Eidos boss Ian Livingstone said the region is becoming important to the industry because of the obvious thing: money.

“The Middle East is definitely an emerging market for the gaming industry,” he said.

“People here have a large amount of disposable income making them ideal consumers. Gaming is as important culturally as movies and music.”

Livingstone added that the market in the region is estimated at $750 million, a figure agreed by Sony.

“We estimate the market here to be currently at… $550 million for hardware, $150 million for software and $50 million for accessories,” said Tim Stokes, marketing head for Sony PlayStation Sony Gulf.

More on Xpress. Thanks, MaxConsole.

According to this Intergameonline report, Sega to create a 76,000 square foot indoor theme park in Dubai. From the piece.

Sega Republic will be a two-level, 76,000sq.ft indoor theme park, featuring a diverse line up of rides and amusements, all in a controlled environment designed from the concept stage to entertain all age groups, at all levels.

The development will be the first of its kind in the region and will serve as a benchmark for future Sega indoor theme park developments across the Middle East and North Africa region and the Indian Subcontinent.

Isn’t this sort of thing exactly what caused all the problems in the first place, Sega? Thanks, Destructoid.

According to this, Microsoft may be readying to make an announcement in the Middle East next week, which the piece speculating it could be the launch of Live in the region. The announcement will be made in Dubai, apparently.