Qwacks Secures SAR 1.8M to Power Saudi Gaming Infrastructure Revolution

Qwacks, a young Saudi gaming tech outfit that only came to life in 2024, has just secured SAR 1.8 million in pre-seed funding from Merak Capital. It’s a tidy sum for a company that’s trying to build the kind of behind‑the‑scenes tools most players never think about but game studios can’t live without. And believe it or not, it’s still one of the earliest homegrown teams in the Kingdom focusing purely on the technical backbone of game development rather than jumping straight into making games themselves.

The timing makes sense. Saudi Arabia’s wider gaming scene has been expanding at breakneck speed, and as more local studios move from consuming games to actually producing them, the need for solid infrastructure has shot up. I’ve seen this pattern before in other ecosystems Arageek has followed over the years — when creators suddenly pick up the pace, everything from testing platforms to backend systems becomes a bit of a faff. So a local company stepping in to handle that heavy lifting feels spot on.

Qwacks’ platform revolves around a unified technology layer meant to streamline the whole game‑building journey. At its core are three tools: Flock, which acts as a scalable backend for online and multiplayer titles; Protokite, an AI‑supported playtesting system connecting developers directly with real players; and DataDuck, a market‑intelligence engine that pulls data from different platforms to help teams validate their ideas and spot where the opportunity really is. I reckon DataDuck might end up being the dark horse of the three — studios love a bit of hard evidence before sinking time into a new title.

Merak’s Vice President, Abdulelah Alsharif, said the fund continues to back teams shaping the future of Saudi Arabia’s gaming industry, adding that Qwacks is “addressing a clear gap in the ecosystem” and aligning neatly with the Kingdom’s bigger ambitions for the sector. On the flip side, Qwacks’ own CEO and co‑founder, Anas Alsahli, called the investment a major milestone, saying it will help the company speed up development of its tools and bring these services to more studios across the region.

For now, the new capital is expected to support product expansion, tighter integrations, and beefed‑up operations as the company aims to serve a wider network of developers. It’s early days, but from what I’ve seen, when Saudi startups get the timing right, momentum builds quickly — almost too quickly, somtimes, for teams to keep up.

Still, for a sector that’s often overshadowed by flashier consumer‑facing projects, seeing a deep‑tech gaming startup get this kind of backing is refreshing. And if Qwacks manages to deliver the foundations that future Saudi game studios build upon, no one will be chuffed to bits more than the devs who’ve spent years wrestling with fragmented tools.

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