- Title: Playing hard, more Dubai youth professionally take up esports, gaming
- Date: 23rd October 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF YALLA ESPORTS, KLAUS KAJETSKI, SAYING: "Yalla Esports! Well we are about providing an opportunity for the talent in the Middle East so obviously we are Dubai-based, but actually we have players from the Dubai, UAE, Saudi, you know Middle East and North Africa, so all the way to Algeria and Lebanon." KAJETSKI SITTING AT COMPUTER AND PUTTING HEADPHONE ON KAJETSKI'S HAND SCREEN SHOWING PUBG GAME (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF YALLA ESPORTS, KLAUS KAJETSKI, SAYING: "Actually, we started Yalla Esports late 2016 but at that point it was more like a hobby, I was working elsewhere. Now we just received funding so this has been my full-time job for over a year now and obviously with the funding we can do more things, we can support more players, we can travel more. Right now, we are qualified to three international tournaments." VARIOUS OF GAMERS PLAYING ON COMPUTER
- Embargoed: 6th November 2019 14:25
- Keywords: Gaming Gaming in the Middle East International Esports Federation Dubai
- Location: DUBAI, UAE
- City: DUBAI, UAE
- Country: UAE
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA005B2BGCWL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Youth in the Middle East have been increasingly playing hard to put their region on the world map of esports and gaming.
As the industry continues to boom globally, a growing population of Arab youth are vying to leave their mark, particularly players in the Gulf.
The multi-billion-dollar industry is already cemented in North America and Asia but more can be done to reach the full potential of talent in the Middle East.
Yalla Esports, a Dubai-based esports team that was founded in 2016 has pushed its way from a hobby team, into a full-time professional team, and has already qualified to three international tournaments, according to the group's founder, Klaus Kajetski.
Kajetski said that as more funding comes to the group, they can nurture local talent, which could mean more games focused on Middle East audiences.
The UK's biggest gaming festival, Insomnia, recently came to Dubai as part of the International Esports Federation's efforts to expand the industry.
Chairman of the International Esports Federation, Colin Webster has lauded Dubai as a great place for esports to grow, claiming that the city has the desire and the required infrastructure to flourish as a gaming hub.
"Middle East is actually up and coming," he said.
Despite the relative lack of movement in comparison to other physically-demanding sports, Webster said esports athletes are equal to those playing games such as rugby and cricket.
He dreams of one day adding esports to the Olympics, calling this ambitious feat the organisation's "holy grail".
(Production: Abdelhadi Ramahi And Tarek Fahmy) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains computer game or software screenshots. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing this clip.
