Unlocking opportunities at the crossroad of Gamification and Education: Market research for Saudi Arabia with a focus on Saudi-Finnish cooperation.

Abstract

Incorporating gamification into the Saudi Arabian educational landscape is now one of the most researched topics in the country. The international and Saudi Arabian media raised awareness, revealing the clear need for study degrees in this domain since the country is investing heavily to become the “ultimate global hub”. The main objective of this thesis was to carry out a narrow research of the Saudi Arabian gaming market, study in depth the potential advantages and difficulties of gamification in the Saudi educational system as well as the potential collaboration in the field of the gaming industry between the Finnish and Saudi Arabian institutions. The theoretical framework discussed the concept of gamification, its challenges and opportunities in Saudi Arabia, Finnish expertise and the potential collaboration between both nations. To obtain useful insights irrespective of the geographical limitations, qualitative research of interviews and multiple case studies was used. The collected data was analysed with deductive thematic coding. The study indicated that combining a new field within the industry brings additional value to the country’s financial and educational structure. Moreover, the study revealed that gamification is becoming more popular and that the gaming market has experienced significant growth in Saudi Arabia due to rising digitalization and the youth tech-savvy population. Overall, this research has affirmed that the Finnish-Saudi Arabian collaboration in gaming is viable and has the promise of exchanging information and knowledge, cross-cultural learning, and growth for both sides.