NEOM Gaming

Headquarters: NEOM, Saudi Arabia

Type: Gaming division of the NEOM giga-project, operating the Level Up accelerator and NEOM Investment Fund's gaming activity

Head of gaming: Toby Evan-Jones, executive director and head of gaming, NEOM

About: NEOM Media runs Level Up, a Saudi gaming accelerator launched in 2023 to support pre-seed local game studios with funding and mentorship. Since launch, Level Up has supported more than 45 Saudi startups, deployed 15 investments with a 100% portfolio survival rate, and helped create more than 170 jobs with support from 17 international partners.

Programme structure: Level Up runs in phases, a Readiness Phase open to Saudi Arabia based studios with an MVP or vertical slice, followed by a Studio Acceleration Phase requiring studios to have dedicated CEO, finance, and project management roles, along with official LLC registration, VAT registration, and a business bank account.

The third cohort offered 12 months of support with over 600 mentor hours per studio. A later funding round offered finalists seven months of support totalling 600 hours of mentorship, alongside access to NEOM's global publisher partner network.

Publishing network: NEOM Media launched a Publishing Partner Network in December 2024 with Kwalee, Sandsoft, Tamatem Games, and Black Smoke Studios, aimed at connecting portfolio startups with international publishers.

Funded studios: Studios backed through Level Up include Starvania Studios, Fahy Studio, Aiqona Productions, Fourcast Studio, Makera, Off Box Studios, and Phys. Fahy Studio signed Saudi Arabia's first international publishing deal through the programme, with UK based publisher Kwalee.

Partnerships: NEOM signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Savvy Games Group in January 2026, linking Savvy's Nine66 Incubator with Level Up to create a progression pathway from early incubation into acceleration. Separately, the NEOM Investment Fund pledged $50 million to Animoca Brands in 2023 to build Web3 enterprise services, split between convertible notes and a secondary share purchase.

Community programmes: NEOM Media runs She Jams, a female participation initiative that drew 534 participants from 32 countries in 2024, and Game Dev Challenge, a STEM programme run in partnership with Maysalward that trains high school students in game development across Riyadh and Jeddah.

Strategic context: Level Up is positioned as part of Saudi Arabia's National Gaming and Esports Strategy under Vision 2030, which targets over SAR 50 billion ($13.33 billion) in gaming GDP contribution by 2030. NEOM won an honourable mention in the Investor of the Year category at the MENA Games Industry Awards 2025, with Exel by Merak taking the win.