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After holding the biggest competitive gaming event in the history of the Middle East, At7addak is planning to replicate its success across the region culminating in a Pan-Arab Tournament for the title of Arab Gaming Champion.

At7addak, a multi-platform online gaming community, recently held its first ever real-life gaming event in Lebanon. The gathering which took place on the 3^rd of September hosted 3 000 attendees with 500 gamers playing Black Ops on 50 Playstation3 consoles for over 8 hours with cash prizes up to a $10,000 first place prize. The event was covered by international press including top gaming forums and bloggers from the region.

At7addak was founded by serial entrepreneurs Brahms Chouity who first got the idea to start “a Facebook for gamers” while on vacation. “I wanted to create an online community where gamers from all over the Arab world could meet, interact and challenge each other virtually.” Brahms later pitched the idea to his friend and business partner Prince Abdulaziz Al Faisal and the two started building the concept and the team needed to develop the website. They launched the idea at the ArabNet 2011 Shift Digital Summit, and the feedback they got from both the gamers and the corporations was nothing short of momentous.

Fast forward 6 months, and At7addak.com is one of the largest online communities in the Arab world with almost 5 000 members and a 10 000 strong Facebook community.

 “At7addak.com’s opportunity remains that we are living in the world’s most underdeveloped region in terms of online gaming.” explained Brahms. “Now as the gaming industry in the Arab world grows and develops over the next few years, we aim to ride this wave, and pioneer the Arab competitive gaming sector”

The online gaming industry seems to hold a lot of promise both internationally and in the region. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that the global online gaming market will grow 21.3% from last year to reach $30.6 billion; while a survey by the Arab Advisors Group shows that 65.3% of internet users in Saudi Arabia, or 7.4 million individuals, play games online.

Next on At7addak’s agenda are tournaments in KSA, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt by 2013. “Our ultimate goal is to start hosting Pan-Arab tournaments, putting the champions of each country against each other in one tournament, for the title of Arab Champion.”