Why Saudi Arabia’s dolphins and whales matter to the gaming industry

I’m increasingly asked these days for the nitty-gritty details on this whale den we call Saudi Arabia.

As I approach a talk in Dubai this month on the subject, I decided to run a survey that eschews all freeloaders and minnow low-paying players, targeting only dolphins and whales. Or in other words, it’s a survey that shares insights about mobile players who pay a minimum of 50 Saudi Riyals (USD $13) per month on in-game purchases, which we will define here as dolphins and whales. These are the gems that pay us back and pay us well in terms of lifetime value if they stick around. During the course of two weeks (September 12 to September 26), 747 of these Saudis responded to the survey . Here’s what they had to say.