BGA 2025 Report: MENA Becomes the Core of Global Blockchain Gaming Growth, Talent and Regulatory Advantages Drive Industry Reshaping

The Blockchain Gaming Alliance (BGA) recently published the “2025 Industry Status Report,” which shows that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has rapidly emerged as a major growth driver in the global blockchain gaming industry. Industry practitioners have increased from 0.5% in 2021 to 19.8% in 2025, achieving the largest regional structural shift in history.

The report points out that as Western markets slow down, MENA, Africa, and Latin America are becoming new growth centers. Currently, Africa accounts for 5.5%, and Latin America for 11.9%, with global talent distribution gradually moving away from the traditional dominance of Asia and Europe. Among industry participants, women make up 22.7%, a new record high, and the younger generations are especially active in MENA and Africa.

Key factors driving regional rise include the rapid improvement of the regulatory environment. Countries like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco are piloting stablecoin frameworks, while Oman’s digital payments have surged by 700% within a year, and digital wallet penetration has reached 74%, providing advanced financial and infrastructure support for the blockchain gaming ecosystem. BGA data shows that 64.4% of industry practitioners believe that regulatory clarity is the most important factor for future development.

Industry trends are shifting from speculation to quality. The release of high-quality games (29.5%) has become a major driver of industry growth, followed by sustainable business models (27.5%) and the widespread application of stablecoins in payments (27.3%). Meanwhile, the financing environment continues to tighten, with blockchain gaming funding dropping from $10 billion in 2022 to $293 million in 2025, forcing projects to shift from “token-driven” to “product-driven” models.

The industry still faces major challenges, including scam risks (36%), funding shortages (32.6%), and potential AI misuse (38.9%). Nevertheless, AI is still viewed as a potential growth force in content creation and marketing.

MENA’s advantages are not only due to regulatory factors but also its highly digitalized demographic structure. Local users have strong risk tolerance, digital payment adoption is high, and mature financial infrastructure significantly reduces cross-border value transfer costs, attracting global players like Ubisoft, Polygon Labs, and DMCC Dubai to deploy in the region.

Looking ahead to 2026, the key to the industry’s success lies in whether high-quality games can truly drive user growth. As MENA’s advantages in regulation, talent, and capital continue to strengthen, the region is expected to remain at the forefront of the global process of blockchain gaming transitioning from niche to mainstream.