Dubai: From the changing economics of gaming to the enduring influence of Gulf television, the Dubai Media Council put the forces reshaping media and the creative industries in focus on the opening day of the Arab Media Summit 2026.
Through a diverse programme of specialised sessions and conversations, the Council explored the rapid transformation of the sector, the growth prospects of film and gaming, and their expanding role in the digital economy.
The Films Forum and Gaming Forum, organised by the Dubai Films and Games Commission, an entity operating under the Council, featured a series of sessions bringing together industry leaders, investors and experts from the region and around the world. Discussions explored opportunities for growth and investment and the technological shifts reshaping production, distribution and content consumption across both industries.
The programme opened with a keynote by Nehal Badri, Secretary General of the Dubai Media Council, titled “From Dubai: The World Films, Plays and Streams.” Badri traced how media has evolved from a single craft into a full creative economy spanning film, gaming and digital content, and how Dubai has spent that same period building the environment in which such an industry can grow. She rooted this in the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, from the early 2000s, and its continuation under the direction of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Media Council.
She described an ecosystem in which advanced infrastructure, an agile regulatory environment, global talent, investment and innovation converge, and where the Council’s role is to connect these elements into a single, seamless system for creators. It is an environment that enables new ideas to take shape and for Arab content to travel from Dubai to audiences around the world. The result, she noted, is a city that is not a destination for a single production or event, but a place where talent settles, ideas become companies, and the world increasingly chooses to film, build and stream from Dubai.
At the Gaming Forum, ‘Who Owns the Shelf?’ brought together Berkley Egenes, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Xsolla, and Kishan Palija, CEO of Geekay Group.
Moderated by Siobhan McCarthy, Head of Communications, Tencent, the session examined the transformation of game distribution as publishers move towards direct to consumer sales and digital platforms expand rapidly, alongside continued player interest in physical editions.
In ‘Inside the Billion Dollar Gaming Empire’, Saifi Ismail, President of NYSE-listed Yalla Group Limited, explored the realities of leading a major gaming company through rapid industry change.
Yalla Group is the first UAE technology unicorn to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the largest social networking and gaming company in the Middle East and North Africa to emerge from Dubai.
Ismail examined the strategic choices and challenges facing industry leaders as shifting revenues, artificial intelligence, consolidation and long-term investment reshape the sector. The session was moderated by Omar Butti, Director of Media Governance at the Dubai Media Council.
‘Are Games Quietly Becoming a Force for Good?’ shifted the focus beyond entertainment, exploring gaming’s growing impact on education, accessibility for People of Determination, community initiatives, research and therapeutic applications.
The session featured Jude Ower, Founder and Host of the Good Game Club podcast; Sibel Seylan, Partnership Specialist at the United Nations Development Programme; and Mona Ghander, Vice President of Innovative Solutions and Strategic Partnerships at the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation. It was moderated by Faisal Kazim, Games Commissioner at the Dubai Films and Games Commission.
The day concluded with ‘The Faces We Grew Up With’ bringing together Gulf entertainment icons Samira Ahmed, Dawood Hussain and Mohammed Al Mansoor.
The artists revisited defining moments in their careers and the productions and characters that became part of the collective memory of Gulf audiences. They reflected on how pioneering drama captured the region’s social and cultural transformations, addressed societal issues through powerful storytelling and helped forge a distinctive Gulf dramatic identity that resonated with generations across the Arab world.
The Council’s programme on the opening day reflects its commitment to advancing the sector and creating platforms for dialogue and knowledge exchange among media and content professionals and investors, further strengthening Dubai’s position as a regional and global hub for media and the creative industries and a destination for talent, ideas and future investment.
