Gen.G Esports Plans Regional Office in Saudi Arabia

Gen.G Esports plans regional office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Image Credit: Gen.G Esports, Qiddiya City

International esports organization Gen.G Esports appears to be the very first company in the world to take advantage of the Qiddiya City Club Program, an incentive program that financially incentivizes game companies and esports organizations to set up shop in the future-leaning, Saudi Arabian government-backed city project, with its Gaming and Esports District slated for gradual opening starting in 2026.

In a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, Gen.G Esports MENA Partnerships Lead Nicole Minkyung Choi publicly announced her organization’s “expansion into Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” noting that Gen.G is partnering with “amazing local and international organizations like Saudi Esports Federation, Esports World Cup Foundation, government-owned broadband provider stc play, and LG Electronics Business Solutions Saudi Arabia. As part of these deals, Gen.G will be “offering courses ranging from esports training and career certification to essential skills to become the next future leaders of the esports industry.”

Nicole Minkyung Choi was one of several esports executives who made a stop at the New Sport Global Conference in Riyadh over the weekend.

While Qiddiya City was not specifically mentioned in her post, it is clear that launching an office in Riyadh is the first step in creating a permanent home for the organization within the esports and gaming districts of the city project. Participants in the Qiddiya City Club Program will first open a local office in Riyadh, and hire regional staff while working with Qiddiya to design offices and other facilities for players.

From The Esports Advocate’s exclusive reporting on the Qiddiya City Club Program, we learned that Qiddiya aims to create a “global epicenter of gaming and esports” by building out esports arenas, esports team facilities, bootcamp locations, and regional headquarters for international organizations. Qiddiya also wants game development studios, publishers, and consumer brands to make the city their home in Saudi Arabia.

While Gen.G may be the first organization to publicly acknowledge its cooperation with Qiddiya, several other organizations have quietly applied for the program including Bleed Esports, according to our sources. Some North American teams TEA has spoken to over the last several months tell us that they would not be opening regional offices there or participating in the program because the financial incentives being offered are not enough to even maintain employee salaries in the region—the program requires that a certain number of executive-level employees be hired for offices in Riyadh.

While TEA does not have specific information on just how much money will be dispersed through the Club Program, we do know how it will be broken down for participants. Prior to the completion of facilities in the actual Qiddiya City, teams will be given “premium office space and esports facilities in Riyadh” in stc Square (from 2025-2027); from 2028-2029, organizations will move from Riyadh to Qiddiya into facilities that they will help custom design with Qiddiya planners.