DMCC Gaming Centre Grows 30% to 165 Companies as DMCC and Serbian Games Association Open a Europe-Middle East Gaming Corridor at Gamescom 2026

Published: 2026-08-27

DMCC Gaming Centre has reached 165 member companies after adding nearly 40 gaming businesses over the past 12 months, an increase of 30% year on year. DMCC announced the figure on 2026-08-26 together with a strategic partnership signed with the Serbian Games Association (SGA) in Cologne during Gamescom 2026, the world’s largest games trade fair. The agreement covers soft-landing support for companies entering Dubai and Serbia, business-to-business connectivity, exchange of market intelligence, joint events and webinars, and reciprocal access to co-working facilities. The Gaming Centre sits inside DMCC’s technology community of more than 4,000 companies, in a free zone that is now home to nearly 27,000 registered businesses. For game developers, publishers and esports companies looking at the Gulf, it is the clearest signal yet that Dubai wants to be the entry point between the European and Middle Eastern gaming markets.

What DMCC announced on 2026-08-26

The press release was published on the DMCC website on 2026-08-26, the opening day of Gamescom 2026 at Koelnmesse in Cologne (the fair runs 26-30 August 2026). The essentials:

• DMCC Gaming Centre has grown to 165 member companies, with nearly 40 added in the past 12 months, which DMCC reports as 30% annual growth.
• DMCC and the Serbian Games Association signed a strategic partnership to deepen commercial links between the gaming industries of Dubai and Serbia.
• The agreement was signed at Gamescom, where DMCC is exhibiting as part of the Dubai Pavilion alongside the Dubai Films and Games Commission, in parallel with its Made For Trade Live roadshow.
• The stated purpose is to support gaming companies expanding between Europe and the Middle East and into wider international markets.
• The Gaming Centre is part of DMCC’s wider technology community of more than 4,000 companies spanning gaming, artificial intelligence, crypto, Web3 and cybersecurity.

Belal Jassoma, Director of Ecosystems at DMCC, said the 30% growth reflects demand from gaming companies looking to build and scale internationally, and that the agreement with SGA creates a practical route for companies in both markets to connect through Dubai. Mihajlo Jovanović-Džaril, Director of the Serbian Games Association, described the partnership as a bridge between the Serbian ecosystem and Dubai that opens access to international markets for Serbian studios.

What the DMCC and SGA agreement actually covers

The release lists five areas of cooperation. None of them comes with a launch date yet, and DMCC uses the word “explore” for the first item, so treat the list as a framework rather than a finished product line:

• Soft-landing support for companies entering Dubai from Serbia and entering Serbia from Dubai.
• Business connectivity: introductions between companies across the two ecosystems.
• Market intelligence and industry expertise shared between the two organisations.
• Joint events, webinars and other industry initiatives.
• Reciprocal access to co-working facilities, plus a commitment to look for further ways to support international expansion.

In practice this is the same model DMCC uses for its other ecosystem partnerships: the free zone provides the licence, the workspace and the community, while the partner association brings its members and market knowledge. For a Serbian studio, the value is a named counterpart in Dubai before the company is even registered. For a DMCC member, it is a route into a European development hub with a track record in outsourcing and independent studios.

DMCC Gaming Centre in numbers

The Gaming Centre was launched on 2022-12-13, when DMCC already hosted more than 50 gaming companies and estimated the MENA gaming market at USD 1.8 billion. The trajectory since then, based on DMCC’s own reporting:

Two things stand out in the table. First, technology is now DMCC’s largest and fastest-growing sector, ahead of the commodities trading that gave the free zone its name. Second, the gaming cluster is still small in absolute terms compared with crypto, which means the 30% growth rate comes off a low base: nearly 40 companies in a year is meaningful for a specialised centre, but it is not yet a mass market.

Why Serbia, and why now

The choice of partner is not random. The UAE and Serbia have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that has been in force for more than a year and removes tariffs on 96% of goods traded between the two countries. On 2026-07-30 the UAE President made a working visit to Belgrade, where talks with President Aleksandar Vucic focused on investment, trade and renewable energy; we covered that trip in our article on the UAE-Serbia corridor. The DMCC and SGA agreement is the industry-level follow-through on that political framework: a sector-specific channel inside a trade relationship that already has its legal basis.

From the Serbian side, the association describes its industry as built on talent, creativity and technical expertise, with studios that compete internationally. From the DMCC side, Serbia offers something the Gulf gaming market still lacks at scale: a deep pool of developers and mid-sized studios in a European time zone, two hours’ flight from Dubai’s main European partners and with direct flights to the UAE.

The bigger picture: Dubai Program for Gaming 2033

The Gaming Centre growth feeds into a city-level target. The Dubai Program for Gaming 2033, launched in November 2023 and overseen by the Dubai Future Foundation, aims to place Dubai among the top 10 cities in the global gaming industry, create 30,000 new jobs in the sector and add around USD 1 billion to the emirate’s GDP by 2033. As of June 2025 the foundation counted more than 350 gaming companies in Dubai, 260 of them specialised game developers, with over 60 companies established since the programme started.

DMCC is one of several platforms competing for those companies alongside Dubai Internet City, in5 and the Dubai Films and Games Commission’s own initiatives. The Gamescom pavilion, where DMCC and the commission exhibited side by side, shows the free zone and the government body working from a single script. The same logic explains why Dubai ranked first in the world for creative-industry FDI for the fourth year in a row, with 754 projects in 2025, a story we covered in our piece on creative-industry investment in Dubai.

What this means for a studio considering Dubai

If you run a game studio, a publishing label or an esports operation and are weighing a Dubai entity, the DMCC announcement changes three practical things:

• A named landing partner. Serbian companies will be able to enter through the SGA channel rather than cold. Studios from other European markets can still use the Gaming Centre directly, but the SGA deal is the template DMCC will likely replicate with other national associations.
• Co-working before commitment. Reciprocal co-working access means a team can test the market from a DMCC desk before signing a multi-year office lease in Jumeirah Lakes Towers.
• A community of 165 peers. Publishers, service providers, esports teams and investors already inside the centre are reachable through DMCC’s own events rather than through third parties.

The checklist for setting up remains the standard DMCC one:

• Choose the legal form (a new DMCC company, a branch of a foreign company, or a transfer of an existing entity) and the licence activities that match game development, publishing or esports.
• Decide on the workspace: flexi-desk, serviced office or leased space in JLT; the number of visas available depends on the office size.
• Prepare shareholder and director documents, including passports, proof of address and a short business plan; corporate shareholders need legalised constitutional documents.
• Budget for a corporate bank account: UAE banks ask for a clear description of revenue sources, and gaming companies with in-app purchases or token elements should expect extra compliance questions.
• Plan residence visas for founders and key staff, and check whether the UAE’s freelance and talent visa routes fit individual developers.

How Atlant Capital can help

We set up and support companies in DMCC and other UAE free zones for founders from Europe and the CIS, including technology and creative businesses. Our team handles company formation in the UAE from choosing the free zone and licence activities to registration and lease, arranges corporate bank account opening with a compliance file tailored to gaming revenue models, and processes residence and work visas for founders and staff. If your studio is looking at the DMCC Gaming Centre, or at the Dubai-Serbia corridor from either end, we can map the options and costs before you commit.

Conclusion

A 30% rise to 165 companies is a solid year for a specialised cluster that started with about 50 members in December 2022. The Serbian Games Association agreement adds a concrete European counterpart to that growth: soft-landing, introductions, shared market data, joint events and co-working in both directions. The measures are a framework for now, with no dates attached, but they sit on top of a CEPA that is already in force and a head-of-state visit that took place a month earlier. For gaming businesses, Dubai’s pitch is now specific: a licence in a free zone with 4,000 technology companies, a city programme with a 2033 target, and a growing list of national partners on the European side.

FAQ

How many companies are in the DMCC Gaming Centre in 2026?

As of DMCC’s announcement on 2026-08-26, the DMCC Gaming Centre has 165 member companies. Nearly 40 of them joined in the past 12 months, which DMCC reports as 30% annual growth. At the end of 2025 the centre had 152 members, and at its launch on 2022-12-13 DMCC hosted more than 50 gaming companies.

What did DMCC and the Serbian Games Association agree at Gamescom 2026?

They signed a strategic partnership in Cologne during Gamescom 2026, which runs 26-30 August 2026. It covers soft-landing support for companies entering Dubai and Serbia, connections between businesses in both ecosystems, exchange of market intelligence, joint events and webinars, and reciprocal access to co-working facilities. No launch dates for individual measures were announced.

What is the Dubai Program for Gaming 2033?

It is a city strategy launched in November 2023 and overseen by the Dubai Future Foundation. Its targets are to place Dubai among the top 10 cities in the global gaming industry, create 30,000 new jobs in the sector and add around USD 1 billion to Dubai’s GDP by 2033. In June 2025 the foundation reported more than 350 gaming companies in Dubai, including 260 specialised developers.

Can a Serbian game studio open a company in DMCC?

Yes. Serbian founders can register a new company or a branch in DMCC like any foreign shareholder, and the new partnership with the Serbian Games Association is meant to add soft-landing support and co-working access for companies coming through that channel. The UAE-Serbia CEPA, in force for more than a year, also removes tariffs on 96% of goods traded between the two countries.