What Tamatem does

Tamatem Inc. is a mobile game publisher founded in 2013 in Amman, Jordan, that localizes and publishes culturally tailored games for the Arabic-speaking MENA market. The company operates a portfolio of 50+ titles spanning cards (VIP Baloot, VIP Jalsat), strategy (Battle of Kings), lifestyle simulation (Fashion Queen), RPG (Rage of the Brave), and MMORPG (Land of Heroes) genres, collectively achieving over 150 million downloads and approximately 1 million monthly active users. Its core technology centers on in-house cultural localization, including Arabic voiceover production, character adaptation, music, and cultural event alignment (e.g., Ramadan), combined with a proprietary analytics platform for user behavior, retention, and lifetime value optimization across the portfolio. Tamatem monetizes primarily through freemium in-app purchases (IAP) and in-game advertising, supplemented by publishing services revenue from global game developers seeking MENA market entry.

Tamatem serves a dual customer base: 400 million Arabic-speaking mobile gamers seeking culturally relevant content (less than 1% of online content exists in Arabic), and international game developers seeking expertise in MENA cultural requirements and publishing infrastructure. The company partners with developers from the US, China, France, South Korea, Bulgaria, and Croatia, including strategic relationships with KRAFTON (PUBG Mobile), Tilting Point, and Neocraft. Its go-to-market combines direct developer partnerships with B2B publishing services alongside consumer-side social media user acquisition (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat) and influencer campaigns. Distribution occurs through Apple App Store and Google Play.

The company's business model extends beyond game publishing to include Tamatem Plus, a payment solution addressing MENA-specific payment friction, and the recently acquired Playable Factory, an AI-powered playable ads platform for user acquisition. With operations spanning Amman, Dubai, Riyadh, and Shanghai, and a leadership team anchored by founder/CEO Hussam Hammo and COO Eyad Al Basheer, Tamatem has raised over $17 million since inception, including a $11 million Series B led by KRAFTON in 2021 and ongoing investment from MSA Novo. The company has earned industry recognition including EY Entrepreneur of the Year (2017), World Economic Forum Top 100 Arabic Companies (2019), and Best Publisher 2024.

Name

Tamatem

Legal name

Tamatem Inc.

Website

https://tamatem.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tamatem is a mobile game publisher that localizes and publishes culturally tailored games for the 400M Arabic-speaking MENA market, operating 50+ titles with 150M+ downloads and 1M MAU. It serves both end consumers via freemium games and global game developers seeking MENA publishing expertise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Amman

HQ country

Jordan

HQ region

Middle East

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. In-App Purchases (IAP): Free-to-play mobile games monetized through in-app purchases. Tamatem retains revenue from player spending within their published games. The MENA region has the highest ARPPU globally (8x higher than China), making this a highly profitable model.
2. Ad Monetization: User Acquisition, Growth Marketing and Ad Monetization efforts generate revenue from in-game advertising alongside premium content monetization.
3. Publishing Services for Developers: Tamatem partners with global game developers to bring their mobile games to the MENA market, providing localization, publishing, and marketing services. Revenue comes from developer partnerships and revenue share arrangements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Tamatem is a mobile games publisher that localizes, culturally adapts, markets, and publishes mobile games for the Arabic-speaking MENA market. It partners with global game developers from the US, China, France, South Korea, Bulgaria, and Croatia to bring their titles to Arabic audiences through in-house localization, voiceover, marketing, and monetization services, while also publishing its own portfolio of mobile games across cards, strategy, MMORPG, RPG, and lifestyle simulation genres.

Product overview

Tamatem is a mobile game publishing company that operates a portfolio of games specifically tailored for the Arabic-speaking MENA market. The company publishes handpicked mobile games across genres including cards, strategy, MMORPG, trivia, and story narratives. Key products include owned game titles (Atheria, War Of Sparta, Land Of Heroes, Rage of the Brave, VIP Baloot, Battle of Kings, Fashion Queen, VIP Jalsat, Girls' Secrets), acquired brand Playable Factory (AI-powered playable ads platform), and Tamatem Plus (innovative payment solution). The company also offers comprehensive publishing services encompassing design, marketing, localization, data analytics, community support, and creative multimedia. Tamatem has published over 50 games achieving over 150 million downloads and 1 million monthly active users since founding in 2013.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Playable Factory: AI-powered playable ads platform acquired by Tamatem. Available at playablefactory.com.

Products and services

• Atheria Atheria is a card game published by Tamatem for Arabic-speaking mobile gamers.
• War Of Sparta War Of Sparta is a strategy mobile game published by Tamatem for Arabic-speaking audiences.
• Land Of Heroes Land Of Heroes is an MMORPG mobile game published by Tamatem for Arabic-speaking audiences.
• Rage of the Brave (Revenge of Legends) Rage of the Brave (Revenge of Legends) is an Arabic-market RPG developed in partnership with Neocraft and published by Tamatem, representing the first RPG title in the Arabic market with significant success in GCC countries.
• Battle of Kings Battle of Kings is a strategy multiplayer and civilization-building mobile game (Arabic version of Clash of Empire) and Tamatem's biggest strategy game.
• VIP Baloot VIP Baloot is a multiplayer trick card game (based on French Belote) and the most popular card game in the Arab market with over 20 million downloads.
• Fashion Queen Fashion Queen is a lifestyle simulation game where players become movie stars, featuring Arabic cultural adaptations (Dubai, Beirut and Cairo locations instead of NY/LA), downloaded over 15 million times.
• VIP Jalsat VIP Jalsat is a multiplayer social cards and boards game featuring Tarneeb, Trix, Complex, Partner, Solo, Backgammon, Tawla, Sheesh, and Ludo, published by Tamatem for Arabic-speaking mobile gamers.
• Girls' Secrets Girls' Secrets is a story narrative mobile game in Tamatem's portfolio of Arabic-market games.
• Playable Factory Playable Factory is an AI-powered playable ads platform acquired by Tamatem, leading the market in playable ad technology and enhancing Tamatem's user acquisition and ad monetization capabilities.
• Tamatem Plus Tamatem Plus is an innovative payment method developed by Tamatem for the MENA region gaming market, supporting in-app purchases and payment processing for Arabic-speaking gamers.
• Game Publishing Services Comprehensive end-to-end publishing services for global mobile game developers targeting the MENA market, including design (graphic design and 3D animation), marketing (user acquisition, growth marketing, ad monetization), localization and translation (in-house writers and cultural experts), data analytics, 24-hour community support, and creative multimedia.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50+ published games
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• NeocraftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTamatem partnered with Neocraft to develop and launch 'Rage of the Brave: Revenge of Legends', the first RPG in MENA to achieve massive success in GCC countries. Neocraft developed the game while Tamatem handled publishing and localization for the MENA region.
• Tilting PointstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with game developer and publisher Tilting Point for mobile game publishing in the MENA region.
• Global Game DeveloperscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTamatem partners with global game developers from US, China, France, South Korea, Bulgaria, Croatia and other countries to bring their mobile games to the MENA market through localization and publishing.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Miniclip: Swiss-based mobile and online game publisher (8 Ball Pool, Agar.io) owned by Tencent. Miniclip represents a global mobile gaming incumbent that has the capital and distribution scale to enter any regional market including MENA.
• Savvy Games Group: Saudi PIF-owned gaming holding company and parent of Scopely. Savvy's strategic mandate to build Saudi Arabia as a global gaming hub overlaps with Tamatem's Saudi expansion, making it both a potential partner and a competitive force in the MENA gaming ecosystem.
• Voodoo: French hypercasual mobile game publisher with hundreds of published titles and billions of downloads. Voodoo represents the scale benchmark for ad-monetized mobile publishing that Tamatem aspires to compete with on UA efficiency and portfolio breadth.
• Kwalee: UK-based mobile game publisher focused on hypercasual and casual titles with proprietary user acquisition technology. Kwalee competes with Tamatem for global developer publishing relationships and demonstrates the scale achievable through UA-tech investment.
• Scopely: Major mobile game publisher (Monopoly GO, Stumble Guys) acquired by Savvy Games Group (Saudi PIF-owned). Scopely overlaps with Tamatem in free-to-play mobile publishing and increasingly in MENA market access via Savvy's regional distribution.

Direct peers

• CrazyLabs: Israeli-headquartered mobile game publisher specializing in hypercasual and casual titles with global distribution. CrazyLabs competes for the same global developer partnerships and shares the free-to-play, ad-monetized model that Tamatem uses for user acquisition.
• Tilting Point: US-based mobile game publisher and live-ops operator that partners with developers for global publishing. Tilting Point is already a Tamatem partner for MENA publishing, making it both a comparable peer and a strategic counterparty in the global-to-MENA publishing pipeline.
• Jawaker: Jordanian/MENA-headquartered online card and board game platform (Tarneeb, Trix, Baloot). Jawaker competes directly with Tamatem's VIP Baloot and VIP Jalsat titles in the Arabic card-game vertical and shares a similar regional user base.
• Peak Games: Turkish mobile game developer behind Toon Blast and Toy Blast with deep MENA distribution and localization expertise. Peak Games is one of the few mobile gaming peers with comparable scale in the MENA/Arabic-speaking region and similar free-to-play, casual genre focus.

Regional players

• Sandsoft Games: Saudi Arabia-based mobile game publisher and developer backed by Saudi entertainment sector investors. Sandsoft operates in the same MENA mobile gaming publishing space and benefits from the same Vision 2030 tailwinds that Tamatem is pursuing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tamatemgames
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCit1v4yxjCnZqyil3YeH-AQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/tamatemgames
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tamatem-inc-
• Instagraminstagram.com/tamatemgames/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/discover/tamatem?lang=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors19 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tamatem