End of Chapter 1

Last Thursday I bid farewell to my tenure at NINE66, with a mix of emotions flooding my mind - nostalgia for the myriad of memories created, excitement for the journey ahead, and most of all, profound gratitude for the immensely enriching experiences shared with my friends, team and colleagues.

Joining Nine66 marked the beginning of an incredible chapter in my professional and personal journey. The vibrant and positive environment in Riyadh, coupled with the passion and dedication of my team, made every day an adventure full of learning and growth. From our humble beginnings of setting up a mobile publishing team, to celebrating our first game launch, hitting that first million downloads, to bringing our first title to ROAS positive, this was a wild ride, and I would not want to miss it.

As expected, the reactions to my decision to go on this adventure were mixed. From surprise, positive encouragement, all the way to the 'what are you thinking?', the feedback was always interesting. I personally went on this journey looking at it as an experiment, as doing something that would bring me out of my comfort zone, an adventure that would test me. But also as something that, no matter how it turned out, would allow me a unique opportunity to learn about the country, its people, its history, and uncover the real Saudi. Last but not least, it would allow me to learn so much about a country that few people actually experienced themselves, and know much about.

My mission, aside of the professional journey, was to spent as much of my time here discovering. Saudi Arabia is a big country, most of it unexplored by tourists, and I was lucky enough to go on weekend adventures and roadtrips with my trusty band of fellow explorers to the North, East and West of the country. We saw beautiful landscapes, from dessert to mountains to coral reefs, experienced the famous hospitality (found everywhere I travelled in the Arab world), ate amazing food, and satisfied our curiosity of learning about the country and its people. Wherever we went we were welcomed, and our curiosity taken kindly and welcomed.

I can only suggest you come here and build your own opinions and impressions, as this surely is a place unlike any others, in many ways. The country is moving at an unimaginable pace, not just in what is being build, but on every level of business and society as well. There is lot's to do, but a lot is going in a very positive direction. Ask me about my list of great places to see and eat in Riyadh and beyond, it's extensive.

To my team, I owe you a great debt of gratitude for your hard work and trust in me. Your work not only made us the first 3rd party mobile publisher in Saudi, but also put Nine66 on the map of the industry. It also manifested in generating a ton of interest and in countless conversations we ignited with the top of the industry and beyond. Your resilience in the face of the hurdles we had to overcome has been nothing short of inspiring, and I am so proud to have been part of this group.

To my team Fulwah Alsuwailem Alicja Dro?d?yk Bassam AlRomaithy Mohammad A. Abdullah Konash, PMP, PSM, PMO-CP Sadeem Alkathery Raghad Al-Duayj Reem Saif Sultana Alajmi Saleh Alzughaibi Fousiya Saleem and colleagues Ricardo Flores Santos ?? Antti S?ber David Parra Christian Atack Raghad Almarzouki goes my sincere gratitude for the laughters, the challenges, and the moments of growth we shared. You have a bright future ahead of you, and I hope our journeys converge again in the future.

The list of thanks would be too long to publish, but I have to mention Oliver Kern ??GDC and Kadri Harma ?? who convinced me to go on this journey. It's been a blast, and without your support and guidance it would not have been the same.

Special thanks to my friend and practical guide to Saudi who made this so easy for me to get started, Saud Aldakhil

Last but not least, my wonderful wife Eva Doove is the one that made this journey possible for me, and I cannot thank her enough for supporting me on this path.

What's next for me? Well, Games is what I do, for about 30 years now. So sharing my learnings from the mistakes I made, and the success I was lucky to be part of is what I will continue to do. I spent a year and a half building a highly valuable network in the country and region, and there is a ton of opportunity in this part of the world. So I am exploring what could be next and working on creating that new adventure, be it here or anywhere else in the world.

March is GDC time, so I will be making the trek to SF, and if you want to know more about opportunities and business in KSA, games in MENA, or my personal journey and impressions here I will be happy to meet.

On the other hand, I will continue working on our Riyadh Angel Syndicate together with Oliver Kern and Mohammad A. creating opportunities for angels (international and KSA based) so we can support entrepreneurs in games around the world in the critical stage of early fundraising. If you want to know more about what we do and why please get in touch.

Ma'a as-salama, NINE66. Here's to the end of a chapter, and new beginnings, but never forgetting the journey that brought us together.