Ahmed Al-Nasheet is the face of video games in the region. His passion for gaming and involvement in the industry enabled him to be an integral part of the Middle Eastern and global scene. All of that started with a webcam and a YouTube video.
Ahmed, Tell us about yourself.
I am a 27-year-old Bahraini guy who had a dream when he was five to be part of the gaming industry, to meet the creators of Mario, Crash and Metal Gear Solid. Now, for the past four or five years, I have been living my dream through my own website (DvLZGaME) and YouTube channel, where I talk about video games and share everything I do with the Arab Gaming Community and the world by vlogging (video blogging).
How did you start?
When I started five years ago, there was no one in the Middle East making videos to talk to the gamers from a gamer perspective. I started by posting a short gameplay video on YouTube, and I was astonished to see the number of views multiplying, especially after posting my first video in Arabic. My channel kept accumulating tens of thousands of followers until reaching more than 200,000. I was approached by Machinima, YouTube’s most-viewed entertainment channel worldwide, to represent them in the Middle East region. My affiliation with them was one of the best decisions I’ve made.
You built a massive number of followers on social media channels, especially YouTube. How did you establish such an influential presence?
To build your brand, you have to connect with your audience. The small number viewers who surrounded me from the beginning formed the core of a massive and strong community of gamers and enthusiasts with shared interests. I became the center of this community and started engaging them through all available social networks – all the time. The community became my second family, from which I cannot disconnect myself, even while I’m traveling.
You are doing a lot of work as an evangelist for major gaming studios and publishers. How did you establish this unique relationship?
Being an early player in this scene provided me with tons of opportunities during the first year of my career. I was contacted by major game studios including PlayStation Middle East, Red Entertainment, Pluto Games, Microsoft Gulf and Viva Entertainment. They believed in me, and I developed a strong relationship with them as a direct link between them and gamers in the region. They flew me all over the world from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, and they made me the face of the Arab Gaming Community.
How did you get into the business of localizing games?
Starting this whole Arab gaming community made the whole gaming industry notice us. I worked closely on most of the major localized game titles such as PES, Disney Infinity, FIFA, Need for Speed, and Tomb Raider, either in the early development stages or with the testing of the final product. I am really proud to be the first in the Gulf and in Bahrain to do voice acting for a Disney project. I still can’t believe that it all started when I traveled to Los Angles for the Disney Infinity reveal event – I didn’t know what to expect because it was a secret project. I did my job covering the event, talked with the game developers, and returned back to my hotel. When I got there, the Disney Infinity distributor in the Middle East (Pluto Games) emailed me asking if I was interested in working on localizing the game with Nazih Fares and Junaid Sayeed. I said I would love to! and after a few months I got a call from Pluto Games and Disney asking me if I wanted to voice act in the game! I dropped everything and joined the project. It was a dream come true!! Voice acting for Disney is a massive thing, and it was all possible because of the community and the support they gave me all these years.
You have also worked in acting and modeling for video games, can you tell us about that?
Yeah, it is crazy how things went from reviewing and talking about games to becoming part of a game. After Disney Infinity I got an email from Sebastian Haley, the CEO of DownWard Viral, a gaming studio in Mountain View, CA. He offered me the opportunity to be a playable character in his upcoming Zombie game (Z.) after seeing the videos and reading the articles I wrote covering the game. In the game I will be slaying the undead and trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. This is another first for the Arab world, to have a real Arabic personality modeled as a playable character in a game – not as a villain, but as a hero. I am really thankful for the opportunity, as again it is all because of all the love I got from the gaming industry and the fans’ support.
I flew to Los Angeles and got covered with blood and bandages. I told them I wanted an eye patch to look like I went through hell and back. It was really intense to hold a gun and to really listen to Sebastian and his artistic vision for the character. I spent a whole day working with the makeup artist – I never did anything like that before, but I really loved it.
Are you still working individually? And what are your plans to establish a formal business?
My plan is to expand by trying to find some talented editors and writers, and maybe opening our office in Dubai soon. I am now working by myself, though sometimes I bring along a cameraman to help me with the big conventions like E3 in Los Angeles and Gamescom in Germany (where I took a very talented Bahraini photographer, Qasim Riyadh). I am talking with several organizations here in Bahrain to explore the possibilities of establishing a local company.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I would like to see myself working more closely with new gaming studios around the world, localizing games and doing voiceover work. I would also love to make a game from scratch or even start my own gaming studio with the help of the gaming companies in the region. I am pretty confident that I will still be a major player in the arab or ME gaming industry.
Any advice for the rest hiding behind their monitor screens?
Don’t be scared of trying new things. If I had listened to everyone who told me that I was wasting my time five years ago, I wouldn’t be here talking with you or working with companies like Machinima, Disney, Sony, EA, Konami, Ubisoft and Activison!! It is all about how you can turn your dream into a reality. I was blessed to achieve my dream because I believed in myself, so I am sure you can achieve yours by believing in yourself and working hard.