Deputizing for His Majesty King Abdullah II, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Eng. Sami Smirat inaugurated the 13th Electronic Game Developers Summit, organized by the Jordan Gaming Lab—one of the initiatives of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD).

This year, the summit, held under the theme “From North to South... Learning Through Play,” hosts the global conference Pocket Gamer Connects Aqaba, the gathering features a distinguished lineup of game developers and experts from around the world, alongside regional and international companies from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

The two-day conference includes eight main tracks covering a range of topics such as artificial intelligence in games, extended reality, mobile games, independent game development, and global publishing. It also features training workshops and, for the first time, advanced master classes in game design and creative thinking.

The summit aims to strengthen Jordan’s position as a regional hub for digital gaming and high-tech creativity, and to reaffirm its role as a bridge connecting regional developers with the global industry. It also aligns with the Economic Modernization Vision, which seeks to transform the city of Aqaba into an investment, tourism, and technology destination that hosts promising creative industries.

The summit opened with sessions focused on global and regional trends in the gaming industry, exploring growth and investment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa markets, and discussing transformations in the mobile gaming sector along with development and publishing strategies.

On the sidelines of the event, the Jordan Gaming Lab signed cooperation agreements with Turkey’s Digiage and Germany’s Ziska to establish pathways for collaboration in practical training programs for youth and university students at specialized training centers.

The summit also features applied workshops in artificial intelligence, development tools, and user experience, in addition to an introductory session on publishing through the Xbox platform and discussions on storytelling and interactive design.

Hosting the summit in Aqaba crowns a series of preparatory sessions previously held in Jerash, Madaba, and Ma’an, which brought together Jordanian youth in interactive experiences that link art, history, and entrepreneurship—reflecting the KAFD’s vision to empower youth and promote learning through play as a modern tool for developing creativity and critical thinking skills.