Brian Ward on Good Game Club podcast discussing games, learning, and community

Our CEO Brian Ward joined the Good Game Club podcast to talk about Saudi Arabia’s growing role in the global games sector, and how games can support learning, community, and long-term ecosystem building.

In the episode, Brian talks about how games can help young people build creative and technical skills, including through Savvy Academy’s Play to Learn competition with the Ministry of Education, which reached more than 719,000 students. He also touches on games as a way to connect communities, the growth of women in esports, and what it takes to build a sustainable games ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.

Watch or listen to the full episode here or read highlights from the transcript below.

Transcript highlights

Our CEO Brian Ward joined the Good Game Club podcast to discuss Savvy’s journey, Saudi Arabia’s growing role in the global games sector, and how games can support learning, community, and long-term ecosystem building. He framed Savvy’s role under Vision 2030 around games development and publishing, esports, and helping build the Kingdom into a global hub for the sector. Beyond commercial growth, the conversation focused on the broader impact of games and esports, including skills, education, community, and opportunity.

On community, Brian pushed back against the outdated view of games as isolated or antisocial. He explained that many of today’s games are community-based and long-lasting because they are built around real social connections. As he put it, “this is where people’s friend groups are” and “where their tribe is.” He also pointed to COVID as a clear example of how online games and communities helped people, especially young people, stay socially connected when they could not meet in person.

On learning, Brian described play as a natural way for children to build social and technical skills, saying: “This is how kids learn.” He connected this to Savvy Academy’s Play to Learn competition with the Ministry of Education, which reached more than 719,000 students and generated more than 155,000 game concepts. His point was simple: games can make technical subjects more relevant and accessible, especially when students can see how skills like math, design, and problem-solving apply to something they already care about.

The episode also covered women in esports and the importance of building a sustainable ecosystem. Brian noted that female professional player participation globally averages around 5%, while in Saudi Arabia it is around 20%, making it one of the strongest indicators of the ecosystem being built in the Kingdom. He also described Savvy’s work with government stakeholders, commercial partners, education programs, and training initiatives as part of “the long-term health and sustainability of the ecosystem.” As he put it, people may not remember one year’s revenue number, but they will remember if Savvy helps build an ecosystem that gives young people opportunities for the next 10 or 20 years.