نتائج أعمال كبرى شركات الألعاب تقفز في الربع الأخير
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 [FOREIGN]
00:20 >> Paul, how are you today?
00:31 >> Doing great.
00:31 We have some gaming earnings to talk about, which is always exciting.
00:35 >> Exciting news.
00:36 So let's get started.
00:37 >> Let's do it.
00:38 [MUSIC]
00:42 [FOREIGN]
00:52 >> It's very exciting how we see TrueGamers intends to expand in Saudi Arabia.
01:02 And we've seen the reports showed that around $45 million will be invested.
01:07 So this is a huge number.
01:09 What are your thoughts?
01:10 >> Yeah, it's a big investment.
01:11 And TrueGamers is an interesting play because they're building
01:14 essentially hyper-local LAN centers.
01:16 So small venues where kids, adults, whoever can come play games,
01:21 maybe if they don't have the equipment at home or they want to play with their friends.
01:25 I like this hyper-local approach to LAN centers, especially for
01:29 a country like Saudi Arabia, where you have a large percentage of gamers.
01:33 Where you have a lot of gamers,
01:34 maybe in more rural areas who can't afford all the equipment.
01:37 I think it makes a lot of sense for Saudi Arabia.
01:40 The worrisome part about all of this though is, where does this stand or
01:45 fit with Vov and their strategy of building LAN centers in the country?
01:50 And is this a little bit of an admission maybe that that strategy didn't work?
01:54 And this smaller footprint, more hyper-local strategy really is the way to go.
01:59 >> And now let's continue with EA.
02:01 [FOREIGN]
02:11 So according to that news,
02:18 EA recorded a strong performance thanks to EA Sports FC.
02:23 >> Yeah, I feel very vindicated, Hanan, by this news.
02:27 Because I've been saying for a long time, when they were losing the FIFA branding,
02:32 I think a lot of people were in a bit of a panic.
02:34 I think a lot of people were worried that EA,
02:37 their football game, without the FIFA branding may not succeed.
02:42 What has shown here is in fact not only did they not need the FIFA branding, but
02:47 without the FIFA branding, the game grew 7% year over year.
02:50 >> Exactly, and now let's go to Microsoft.
02:54 [FOREIGN]
03:04 So Microsoft announced the results for the second quarter for
03:11 the year of 2024 as Xbox gaming revenues jumped by 49%.
03:17 We all know the reason, Activision Blizzard.
03:19 >> Yeah, look, they bought these revenues, obviously.
03:22 If you take the acquisition out, the growth is obviously a lot less.
03:25 We're talking single digit percentage.
03:28 I think what's interesting is now,
03:30 what does Microsoft look like as a whole business?
03:33 Because with Activision Blizzard, gaming is actually Microsoft's
03:38 third largest business.
03:39 It's actually a bigger business now than Windows, right?
03:42 When you think Microsoft, you think Windows.
03:45 Now gaming is a bigger business than their Windows business.
03:47 So there's a shift, there's going to be a shift internally,
03:50 no question that Microsoft, in terms of priorities,
03:53 when now gaming is your third largest business.
03:55 And I think that will be interesting to see.
03:57 But what worries me is new leadership at Blizzard.
04:02 Because a lot of the leadership now has changed post acquisition, and
04:05 I think the leadership at Blizzard may be problematic long term.
04:08 >> And now let's check Chanel.
04:10 [FOREIGN]
04:21 It's very surprising, we see a luxury brand like Chanel are into gaming.
04:28 I want to know more details about it.
04:30 What's going on here?
04:31 >> Yeah, I love seeing this, right?
04:32 I love when other industries and
04:35 companies that maybe you would never think have anything to do with gaming,
04:38 all of a sudden start to realize that there's reason to do gaming things,
04:43 and there's benefit to do gaming things.
04:45 And what Chanel, I think, has realized here is that by making a mobile game,
04:50 they made an entire mobile game here.
04:51 This is not just a little activation one off, they made a whole mobile game.
04:55 By making that, this is a way to reach that very valuable young demographic
05:00 that every luxury brand in the world is shooting for, right?
05:03 You need to hit them early.
05:05 They want fans, they want their people to be fans of Chanel at a very young age so
05:09 that they grow up to buy Chanel.
05:11 I love the thought that there's this possibility that one of these brands,
05:15 whether it's Chanel or otherwise,
05:16 could release a mobile game that actually becomes a big hit.
05:19 There is no surprise with the game industry.
05:21 So I'm pretty sure we will see this in a few years.
05:24 But now let's continue our chat with our guest for today.
05:27 [MUSIC]
05:41 [FOREIGN]
05:51 Hello, Baz.
05:51 Welcome to Game Changers.
05:52 How are you?
05:53 Good, thank you.
05:54 Nice to be here.
05:56 Thank you.
05:56 First of all, let me ask you this.
05:58 What's the relationship between education and gaming?
06:01 And if we want to talk about the gaming industry,
06:04 since it's booming in the past years, what's the opportunity for gaming
06:09 in the education world?
06:10 That's a great question.
06:11 I mean, whenever you can link learning with fun and engagement,
06:16 you're always going to lead to some sort of success,
06:18 especially when it involves the younger audiences.
06:22 And the opportunities are about using environments that the students,
06:26 the learners, are most familiar with, which is the gaming worlds, and
06:30 ensuring that they understand what type of learning is going on within these
06:34 environments.
06:35 That could be problem solving, communication.
06:38 It could be creativity.
06:39 There's a lot of skills being utilized, and we need to make sure that they are
06:43 aware that these skills are being utilized so they can transfer them into
06:47 the real world or vice versa, back into the virtual world.
06:50 So bringing learning environments into the fun environments that they are used to
06:55 will lead to better outcomes.
06:58 Baz, let's talk about government a little bit.
06:59 What role do you think government has to play in pushing gaming and education?
07:05 And I'm curious, specifically with Dubai, where does Dubai stand on this?
07:09 Yeah.
07:10 I mean, whenever you have government support, you're always going to lead to
07:13 more opportunities and higher success.
07:15 So just recently, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan has launched the Dubai Program for
07:19 Gaming 2033, which we are happy to be a part of.
07:24 And that will bring about more opportunities for the youth, as well as
07:27 businesses, to establish themselves within this region, which will create more jobs
07:32 and more opportunities for students to put their skills on the professional field.
07:36 And it means that we have an avenue for them within this city or within this
07:40 region that we can take advantage of, where they are able to showcase their
07:45 skills, their passion for gaming in a professional environment.
07:50 Let's talk about jobs.
07:51 You mentioned jobs.
07:52 What are some of the career paths for a student who's maybe interested in gaming
07:57 or maybe interested more seriously in gaming?
08:00 And specifically, not just career paths, but what are the skills that they may
08:03 pick up from being a part of that industry?
08:07 Yeah, there's a lot of opportunities.
08:08 And sometimes people don't realize gaming is one of the biggest job sectors out there.
08:14 And that includes event management, business development.
08:17 It could include legal and law types of opportunities, as well as the playing
08:23 itself and being a professional, which a lot of our youth dream of.
08:27 But within the ecosystem itself, there are a vast number of opportunities that
08:31 are transferable from a number of different degrees or vice versa.
08:34 You can use your passion for gaming to be involved in this ecosystem, even if you
08:39 have a business degree, an economics degree, or event management degree.
08:42 So there are a number of different opportunities available for all.
08:46 So since you're an expert in gaming, you know that kids are very hard to deal with.
08:50 And parenting is something really hard and needs a lot of responsibility.
08:55 So I want advice from you for parents who are worried about their kids gaming.
09:00 First of all, be involved in what they are doing.
09:03 Ask questions.
09:04 You know, what type of games are they playing?
09:05 What is the purpose behind those games?
09:08 Because there could be a misconception or a misunderstanding that they are gaming
09:11 a lot or they are gaming without purpose, when actually, when you communicate with
09:15 them, you understand there is a purpose behind that.
09:18 Or maybe you need to ask the right questions where they start thinking that
09:21 actually there is a reason I'm in this game, whether it's to speak with friends
09:25 or whether it's to build new relationships or whether it's I just need to leave the
09:30 real world alone for a little bit and be myself in this virtual world where I can
09:35 make mistakes and I'm not held accountable for them in terms of achieving inside
09:40 the actual gaming environments.
09:42 And of course, as parents, you always want the best for them.
09:44 So a balanced opportunity is always the best case forward.
09:48 So that includes maybe some agreement with your child where you say you can game
09:53 with certain titles, but you also have to do the physical activity.
09:57 You also have to make sure you're achieving academic success just like you
10:01 would with any other sport out there.
10:03 - Thank you so much for your input and for being with us in Game Changers.
10:07 - Thank you very much for having me.
10:10 - And with this, we have Baz Nijjar, who is the Chief Consultant for Education
10:15 Technology at GEMS Education.
10:16 ♪ ♪
10:29 [speaking in foreign language]
10:39 - So there is a poll on Twitter.
10:40 Are you considering the Apple Vision Pro or you will wait for future releases?
10:45 The first one, you will buy it, you will wait for future releases,
10:49 or you're not interested?
10:50 To be honest with you, it's very controversial.
10:53 We have so many opinions since it was released on the 2nd of February for $3,500.
11:00 And it's a bit expensive.
11:02 So for people who are not interested, maybe they're not seeing because it's like a mix
11:07 of VR or AR, but they're seeing the price most of the time.
11:11 - The price is up there.
11:12 And that's, you know, I'm surprised even 7.3% because it means we have a very
11:18 rich audience, I think.
11:19 That's a large number of people who are going to spend $3,500 on a headset that
11:23 does about the same things as headsets which are one-tenth the price.
11:27 So there's a huge Apple tax here, obviously, and a huge early adopter tax.
11:33 That is clearly going to deter a lot of people, in this case,
11:37 three-quarters of the people.
11:39 And in some ways, even this exercise is a bit academic because the headset's not even
11:43 available in this region yet, right?
11:44 You have to be in the U.S., basically, to get one right now.
11:47 So it's hard to get here unless you import it.
11:50 But what's interesting is the 16.5% who said they're waiting for that next release.
11:54 And I think this is true of almost any technology, but in gaming technology
11:59 especially where the first version is never that good.
12:02 It's always pushing the envelope of hardware and software.
12:05 It's always at this bleeding edge that is too expensive and not useful enough.
12:09 But that second version or that third version usually becomes that sweet spot
12:14 where people start to see the value and the price comes down.
12:17 So I think that 16.5%, that's the camp I'm in personally.
12:21 Also, for rich people, as you said, Volde, 7.3%, I think they are Apple lovers.
12:27 Because the last time we saw a new release from Apple, it was in 2014 with their
12:32 Apple Watch.
12:33 So they want to try.
12:34 What's the new product from Apple?
12:36 What's this Vision Pro?
12:38 No question, that has a huge impact.
12:40 I agree.
12:40 So I really enjoyed this episode.
12:42 Do you have any last comment you'd like to say?
12:44 No, it's just always fun to talk about the big business side of the gaming
12:48 industry too, not just the little stuff.
12:50 So the earnings are always fun to go into.
12:52 I'm waiting to try Vision Pro for me.
12:55 Let's try it in the next episode.
12:57 Let's do it.
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