Stockholm-based mobile games development company FunRock has chosen Egypt as its first office in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Founded in 2014, FunRock develops mobile strategy games specifically for the MENA region, with concepts, content, Arabic language, design and implementation all created and tailored for MENA gamers.
“By choosing Egypt as the location for our first international office, we’re seeking to establish a bridge between the talented engineers and developers in Europe and those in Egypt,” said Magdy Shehata, co-founder and chief marketing officer, FunRock.
“FunRock has assembled a team of the best engineers and developers with unique skill sets and experience in a wide variety of fields. We are keen to constantly develop the game details through our cooperation with professionals in Egypt and the MENA region.”
Egypt was selected as the location of FunRock’s first international office, which opened this month, given the country’s attractive investment environment, wealth of skilled labor, particularly in the engineering profession, the significant number of young, tech-savvy gamers and the overall popularity of mobile games in the country.
Eschewing the typical Cairo route, FunRock has opened its office in Alexandria: “There is a trend among international companies to open their branches in Cairo, but we believe Alexandria has competencies on par with the capital. We wanted to bring this opportunity to Alexandria and its youth. We are confident they’ll make the most of it,” explained Shehata. FunRock currently employs 10 team members at its Alexandria office, and the company is aiming for a total of 50 engineers, business developers and customer support staff by the end of 2018.
FunRock soft launched its first Arabic strategy game, Etihad Al Abtal (Heroes United), in January 2017, specifically developed for game lovers in the MENA region. The game keeps pace with current events and its characters are designed to reflect reality with details imitating the region’s geographical, historical and political nature.
The game is now available for free with its beta version for Android phones in Egypt. Within the coming months, FunRock will launch the game in additional MENA markets after the initial success in Egypt.
“Etihad Al Abtal is the result of a great effort by our talented team including professional developers, designers and architects as well as top local talent story writers, music composers and other skilled people in the MENA region,” commented Shehata. “The team has worked diligently to ensure Etihad Al Abtal is relevant for the region while providing users with an outstanding and interesting experience.”
