August 2026 MENA Moves Tracker: PIF, Loom Games, Merak Capital, and Evlnu GameWorks among six moves tracked this month
A regular roundup of talent moves shaping the MENA region and Africa
Six appointments and promotions were tracked across the MENA games industry in August, with Merak Capital and its accelerator arm Exel by Merak accounting for three of them as the firm continues to build out its team.
Merak Capital promoted Ghadi AlGhamdi to senior investment associate for capital formation after nearly two years with the firm. It separately promoted Fares AlDubie to investment associate for venture capital, advancing him from senior investment analyst after more than a year supporting venture investments.
Exel by Merak also promoted Deema Almutairi to manager, putting her in charge of the accelerator's operations as it runs its third cohort. Almutairi joined Exel in 2024 and previously held positions at GameFounders and Saudi gaming community organisation GCON.
From Riyadh to Istanbul
Evlnu GameWorks brought on Omar Moghrabi as art director and game designer, adding over a decade of experience in art direction, concept art, and game design to the Riyadh studio's creative team.
Loom Games appointed Cansu Karahan Can as people and culture manager as the Istanbul studio continues to scale following Scopely's majority acquisition earlier this year. Can joins from Midas, where she spent more than three years progressing from talent and culture manager to senior manager.
Rounding out the month, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund appointed Rachel Hitchins as senior vice president. Hitchins joins from A&O Shearman, where she spent more than nine years working on cross-border capital markets transactions exceeding $60 billion across oil and gas, real estate, and financial services.
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