Major boost for Saudi creative industries at Misk Global Forum

Saudi men chat in front of a poster of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the "MiSK Global Forum" held under the slogan "Meeting the Challenge of Change" in Riyadh, on November 15, 2017. (AFP)

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s creative industries received a game-changing boost on Thursday following the signing of three agreements with leading Japanese games development companies and animation studios to train Saudi young people and develop Saudi-created content.
The Misk Foundation and its subsidiary, Manga Productions, signed agreements with Square Enix, Shin Nippon Koki (SNK), and Toei Animation Studios at the Misk Global Forum in Riyadh.
The Misk Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Square Enix Group, one of the most respected and successful video game developers in the world today. Creators of the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix was an early pioneer of online gaming and 26 of its titles were included in Famitsu magazine’s “Top 100 Games Ever.”
The MoU will see Square Enix provide training and mentorship to young Saudi games developers through the Misk Foundation, empowering them to introduce more Saudi-created content to the world stage.
In addition, Manga Productions, a Riyadh-based games development, animation and creative studio, affiliated with Misk Foundation, signed a new agreement with Toei Animation Studios to jointly produce a number of anime movies and television serials to be shown in both Japan and Saudi Arabia.
The two companies have already collaborated on an all-ages television adaptation of the Saudi folk tale, the Woodcutter and the Treasure, which will be broadcast in both countries.
The collaboration will enable young both countries to share and appreciate each other’s culture, bring Saudi folklore to Japan and anime techniques to the Kingdom.
Manga Productions also signed an agreement with SNK, a leading Japanese computer games developer responsible for a range of seminal games across several decades.
Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, said: “We want to further enhance the partnership we have with Japan in order to create world-class animations and games.”