Asharqia Chamber, represented by its Small and Medium Enterprises Center, will hold next June the GameJam 2026 Hackathon, which targets developers, programmers, game designers, artists and animators, data analysts and experts, students, and interested parties.
Chairman of Asharqia Chamber’s Board of Directors Fahad bin Abdullah Al-Farraj said that the hackathon is a gathering of game innovators and represents a national game development competition that combines creativity, technology, and innovation in the field of esports. During it, participants design prototype gameplay models and data-driven tools, creating new experiences that redefine the concept of innovating the way of play, competition, and creativity.
Al-Farraj noted that the Asharqia Chamber GameJam 2026 Hackathon comes within the Chamber’s contributions and its role in achieving the targets of Vision 2030, meeting the Kingdom’s strategic need to become a hub for game innovation, by stimulating innovation through enabling national talent to experiment and build prototypes to global standards in a practical environment that stimulates innovation; developing expertise through the development of technical, creative, and entrepreneurial skills via hands-on experience in game development; and empowering promising projects by encouraging the creation of projects that address real challenges and have the potential to turn into products or startups in the games sector.
Al-Farraj explained that the hackathon is based on three main innovation tracks: enhancing engagement through esports, shaping the future of play, and exploring the power of data. He noted that the registration stage continues until February 28 through the hackathon’s official website (www./gamejam.day), followed by the selection stage from March 1 to 19, then the capacity-building stage from March 29 to May 28, with the hackathon’s activities starting next June.
The event was launched by the Governor of the Eastern Province, His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, on the sidelines of the “RAD 2025” entrepreneurship forum and exhibition, with the participation of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority “Monsha’at” and the Digital Entrepreneurship Center “CODE,” and in strategic partnership with Innosoft, the Kamlna app, and SBI Middle East.