Following a successful inaugural season in 2024, YaLLa Esports, the leading esports media company and tournament organiser in the United Arab Emirates, is thrilled to announce the return of YaLLa Compass in 2025. YaLLa Esports is expanding the tournament’s reach with two tier 1 LAN events planned across the MENA region, offering one of the highest Counter-Strike 2 prize pools at $1.5 million (up from $450k in 2024).

The 2024 YaLLa Compass season amassed a worldwide following with a combined viewership across all broadcasts of 50 million views and 5 million+ watch hours. YaLLa Compass transcended geographic boundaries with 30 global broadcasts in 15 languages, catering to a truly global audience.

“The rapid growth of esports in MENA has created a unique opportunity for brands to connect with passionate and engaged audiences,” said Klaus Kajetski, founder and CEO, YaLLa Esports. “We proudly stand as a local company that delivered an esports event of this scale meeting international standards. By collaborating with both local and global brands, we reached mutual goals and made a significant impact for all our stakeholders, not only in the gaming industry’s local startups, tech talents and pop culture enthusiasts.”

The first LAN event drew a massive crowd of 2,000+ but also acro visitors, creating an electrifying atmosphere. The competition featured some of the world’s top Counter-Strike 2 athletes, including 12 global elite teams and a local Abu Dhabi team- Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Open qualifiers for Compass begin on July 29th, with two additional open qualifiers planned for Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. Teams will finally compete in a closed qualifier stage in the leadup to the first LAN event which will be held at prominent MENA locations in Q2 2025.

HP has announced the winners of this year’s GameOn with the HP Gaming Garage hackathon at an event that took place at the HP Gaming Garage Lab at Rochester University in Dubai. Part of HP’s commitment to accelerate digital equity for 150 million people globally by 2030, the GameOn with HP Gaming Garage hackathon fosters creativity and innovation among aspiring game developers between the ages of 13-18 in the UAE. This year’ s hackathon concluded last week with Dubai Gem Private School, GEMS Wellington Academy School -Silicon Oasis, GEMS Founders School, Barsha selected as the big winners for their Golden Horizons, Circle Quest, and Code Crusaders Game projects respectively.

“As the Online Games market in the United Arab Emirates thrives, HP remains dedicated to building talent and innovation through initiatives like the HP Gaming Garage. With the UAE market projected to reach a revenue of US$50.60 million in 2024 and an anticipated user base of 1.3 million by 2027, the UAE’s emergence as a gaming hub highlights the importance of empowering the next generation of gamers and developers” said Peter Oganesean, Managing Director Middle East and East Africa, HP.

The HP Gaming Garage initiative is designed to inspire and empower students across the globe to develop the skills required for success in the gaming and esports sectors. With backing from HP, this initiative offers an online Gaming Garage education course platform available in various languages, including English and Arabic. Registering in the free courses offered in Game Development and Esports Management that are available via the HP Gaming Garage curriculum, individuals have the opportunity to enhance their abilities and flourish in the digital landscape.

One of this year’s highlights of the HP Gaming Garage initiative is the GameOn hackathon, providing students in the UAE with the possibility to apply their skills and creativity to highlight, celebrate and thereby preserve culture with the guidance of experienced mentors. Students between 13 and 18 years old who completed 70% of at least one of the HP Gaming Garage courses were presented with the opportunity to participate in this year’s hackathon, which kicked off on March 29th, 2024. The goal is for the participating teams to cultivate their own gaming concepts and ideas, infusing them with cultural diversity and richness.

“Gaming has become a powerful trend, with the younger generation seeking connection and bonding through gameplay, fostering relationships in new and innovative ways. We believe that the GameOn with HP Gaming Garage hackathon offers students a unique opportunity to showcase their technical skills while exploring and celebrating their cultural heritage through the immersive medium of gaming,” commented Lavina Punjabi, Sustainability Lead Middle East and Africa, HP.

In collaboration with AMD, HP launched the HP Gaming Garage Lab at Rochester Institute of Technology, Dubai in February 2021. Serving as a hub for gaming and esports enthusiasts, the Lab provides students with state-of-the-art gaming equipment and access to industry leaders, fostering skill development and networking opportunities. Equipped with cutting-edge PCs, monitors, and peripherals, students are welcome to use the facility to study and create while curated programs and industry encounter sessions offer valuable insights and connections, and competitions like online gaming tournaments and hackathons provide exciting opportunities for participation and growth.

The winners of this year’s GameOn Hackathon presented their projects at the HP Gaming Garage Lab to a committee of esteemed gaming, education and technology experts consisting of Dr. Omar Abdul Latif, Assistant Professor at RIT-Dubai, Girish Dhyani Chandra, Sales Lead for the Middle East market at AMD, Rishabh Khanna, Founder & Board Member of International Teachers University, USA, Salman Razzaq, Business Development Leader at HP, Maxim Komlev, HP HyperX and Nisreen AlKhateeb, Trade Compliance at HP who selected the big winners. The winning teams were awarded remarkable prizes and recognition for their cultural creations, alongside mentorship opportunities from HP experts.

TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council) has announced that Dr. Rick Tsai, Vice Chairman and CEO of MediaTek, will be a keynote speaker at COMPUTEX 2024 on June 4. Dr. Tsai will explore how the latest silicon advancements and connectivity standards are making AI ubiquitous.

Today AI is already delivering more personalised and intuitive computing experiences. Dr. Tsai will share how generative AI will continue to transform mobility, transportation, smart homes, enterprises, and industrial environments in the future. He will also emphasize the need to make AI more accessible to open up new opportunities for people around the world.

MediaTek is bringing advanced AI capabilities to a wide variety of connected devices. MediaTek powers more than two billion devices a year and is the No. 1 provider of chipset technology for smartphone SoCs, smart TVs, voice assistant devices (VAD), Arm-based Chromebooks, and Android tablets, along with the leading Wi-Fi supplier across broadband, retail routers, consumer electronics devices, and gaming. MediaTek also offers a complete product portfolio for intelligent, always-connected vehicles.

COMPUTEX 2024 with the theme “Connecting AI,” is set to take place from June 4^th to June 7^th. The event will feature 1,500 exhibitors using 4,500 booths, showcasing six major themes: AI Computing, Advanced Connectivity, Future Mobility, Immersive Reality, Sustainability, and Innovations.