Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan presided over the opening of the third edition of the Morocco Gaming Expo (MGE 2026) in Rabat on Tuesday, inaugurating a five-day event running from May 20 to 24 under the theme “Moroccan Talent.”
The expo is positioned as Morocco’s principal showcase for its gaming and eSport ecosystem, and its third edition marks the event’s consolidation as a regional reference in the industry.
The thematic focus on Moroccan talent reflects a deliberate policy choice: to place Moroccan youth at the center of an industry rather than at the periphery of an imported cultural product. The strategic ambition, articulated by the Ministry, is to create thousands of skilled jobs for young Moroccans, attract investment and innovation into the domestic market, and strengthen Morocco’s competitiveness in the global gaming sector. This positions MGE not merely as an entertainment event but as an economic development platform aligned with the Royal vision of establishing Morocco as a continental technology and creative hub.
The Crown Prince toured the expo’s exhibition platform, which gathers institutions, startups, financing operators, hardware manufacturers, telecoms operators, training organizations, and cloud gaming providers under a single roof. New thematic zones introduced in this edition include “MGE PlayTest” and “MGE Talks,” dedicated to the valorization of Moroccan talent in video game development. Moulay El Hassan also visited the eSport Arena — the event’s competitive gaming space — and gave the kick-off to a football eSport tournament.
A professional B2B platform brings together studios, publishers, investors, and industry operators for structured meeting sessions designed to generate concrete investment and partnership opportunities.
The expo’s forum program comprises five complementary sessions: a Government Forum on public policy and international partnerships; a Business Forum on innovation and commercial opportunities; a Game Safe Forum on digital ethics and security; a Game Engine Forum on development technologies; and a Game Dev Forum targeting creators, coders, and visual artists.
The choice of Rabat as host city carries additional symbolic weight. The capital was designated by UNESCO as World Book Capital for 2026 (April 2026 to April 2027) — a recognition of its cultural heritage and an expression of the Royal vision positioning Rabat as Morocco’s cultural capital. Hosting the Morocco Gaming Expo within this institutional context integrates digital creativity into the city’s cultural identity, and frames gaming and eSport as legitimate dimensions of Morocco’s contemporary cultural offering.