Over 35,000 gamers participated in Abu Dhabi’s first gaming festival, taking advantage of Yas Gaming Festival’s exciting mix of cosplay, fun multi-player tournaments, retro arcades, and virtual reality.
The festival featured a number of unique experiences, such as this weekend’s UAE preview of popular video games Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 and Naruto to Baruto:Shinobi Striker, a charity Pro AM Fortnite competition with AED 20,000 donated to Emirates Autism Center, plus Gaming4Good, a second-hand game drive with all proceeds going to the charity. Taking responsibility towards gaming seriously, the Yas Gaming Festival also included an insightful educational panel given by gaming experts and a child psychologist to empower parents to make the right decisions for their children.
Some of the free-to-play games available at Yas Gaming Festival ranged from classics such as Pac Man, Super Mario, and Sonic The Hedgehog, to newer titles such as Ratchet & Clank, FIFA 18 and The Legend of Zelda. The Cosplay competition was another highlight of the event, where fans make costumes and dress up like their favourite characters. The winner Sumi walked away with an AED 5,000 Yas Mall Gift Card, AED 1,000 voucher from Geekay games and a Naruto to Baruto Uzumaki Collector Edition, for her incredible Mercy cosplay from the popular videogame Overwatch.
Commenting, Shatha Al Romaithy, Director of Marketing at Yas Mall said: “We are very pleased with the reaction we have received for hosting Abu Dhabi’s first gaming festival as the event welcomed over 35,000 participants across the eleven days. At Yas Mall, we are dedicated to offering our visitors one-of-a-kind retail experience, and through Yas Gaming Festival we were able to engage with a new audience, combining gaming, virtual reality, charity competitions and gaming drives.”
As Yas Mall is committed to delivering a calendar of unique and engaging events, this month it will host their environmental Rethink Plastic campaign, from 12-15 September and the dazzling and interactive Yas House of Illusion event from 19-22 September.
