Amman, January 3, 2024: As part of its ongoing contributions to solidify and enhance the Kingdom's position on the international and global stage in the field of esports and electronic gaming, and its continuous efforts to develop professional talents, provide guidance, and support professionals, players, and enthusiasts at the highest global levels, Zain Jordan through its Zain Esports Jo center organized several electronic sports tournaments in 2023. These tournaments included the most famous and widely spread e-games globally, in addition to sponsoring and participating in key events in this sector.
Given the promising growth in this sector and its significance in contributing to the national economy, and to enhance Jordan's representation in international and global esports tournaments, Zain Esports, under the patronage of His Highness Prince Hashem Bin Abdullah II, organized the Jordan Qualifiers Championship for Electronic Games in collaboration with the Electronic Sports Committee. The championship spanned three consecutive days, engaging more than 250 players across 9 games. The primary goal was to form a Jordanian team that would represent the national core to compete in the 19th World Electronic Sports Tournament (IESF) in Yash, Romania, and the Asian Games (AG) in Hangzhou, China. During the qualifiers, Prince Hashem Bin Abdullah II, accompanied by Prince Omar Bin Faisal, President of the Electronic Sports Committee, awarded prizes to the leaders of the winning teams who represented Jordan in these international tournaments.
Jordan's national teams participated in the Road to Asian Games (AG) tournament hosted in Hangzhou, China, last year. The team secured the first position in the AOV game, earning the gold medal. Additionally, players Ali Al-Eisawi, Mohammed Al-Adasi, Laith Al-Muhaydat, and Omar Al-Saif claimed the second position in the PUBG game, securing the silver medal. Furthermore, the team comprising Joudat Al-Khanji, Ahmed Youssef, Walid Ismail, and Mohammed Al-Assaf claimed the second position in the LOL game, earning the silver medal in the qualifiers. Jordan was represented in the 19th IESF World Electronic Sports Tournament qualifiers by the national team in the Dota 2 game, consisting of Abdullah Labad, Anas Hrzallah, Bar Erf, and Mohammed Abu Al-Eis, alongside Saeed Dabbaneh in the Efootball game and Mohammed Ahmed in the Tekken 7 game.
To support both professional and amateur gamers and contribute to the development of the gaming sector in the Kingdom, Zain Jordan continued leveraging its solutions, technologies, and services to enrich the experience of professionals and enthusiasts through 5G technology. This technology promises to elevate them to new and optimal levels, providing a superior gaming experience in terms of streaming quality and smoothness due to the low response times and exceptional speeds, reaching up to 10 times faster than fourth-generation networks.
Throughout 2023, Zain Esports Jo held several tournaments in the most popular electronic games, including Valorant, PUBG Mobile, and FIFA 23, engaging over 500 players from Jordan and other Arab countries, competing for top positions in each tournament and receiving cash and in-kind prizes provided by the center across various tournaments. The center also organized a FIFA 23 championship for the Royal Automobile Club's members at its branch in Amman. The tournaments streamed on the center's official social media pages garnered wide attention from audiences and gaming enthusiasts.
Zain, through its Zain Esports Jo center, supported the open day event at the Al-Hussein Technical University to introduce the electronic game design and development program at the College of Computer and Information Technology. The center also hosted a FIFA 23 tournament for the university students. Additionally, Zain sponsored the Toyota Gazoo Racing finals for digital races in the Middle East and North Africa held in Amman, witnessing broad participation from multiple countries.
In terms of educational initiatives and raising awareness about various topics in esports, Zain Esports Jo organized an educational dialogue session on the nature of esports, the organization of electronic games, their competitive field in work and education, and their role in boosting the local and global economy. The session, conducted by esports consultant Mohammed Kannakri, was held at Zain's main branch for Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC) at the King Hussein Business Park.
Due to the local interest in the esports sector, which represents one of the most creative and fastest-growing sectors, Zain Jordan, through its Zain Esports Jo center, supported the Esports Academy launched by "Meis Al Ward" and Ibmedia. The academy aims to nurture and develop Jordanian and Arab talents, providing comprehensive training specially designed for talents leading the esports scene in the Middle East. These training courses, whether in-person or remote via visual communication technologies, enable participants to acquire new skills in managing and developing esports. Zain's support, through its Zain Esports Jo center, enables academy students to gain experience from the specialized team at Zain Esports Jo, enriching their practical and theoretical knowledge, while fostering and developing their talents. This initiative aligns with the center's efforts since its establishment in 2019 to contribute to this sector, qualify Jordanian talents, and promote their development.