Riyadh’s Ash Games Secures $1.5M Seed to Export Arabian Mythology

Riyadh-based game developer Ash Games Studio has raised a $1.5 million Seed round co-led by Merak Capital and Impact46 through the Merak Gaming Fund. The studio will use the funds to build original action-adventure titles rooted in Arabian history for global audiences.

Founders Anas Bakhsh, Yaser Alahmadi, and Saud Bakolka operate an 18-person, remote-first team focused strictly on original intellectual property. The capital allows the company to bypass contract development and focus entirely on creating proprietary franchises.

The studio’s flagship project, Nomad: The Legend of Zarqa, is an action-adventure roguelite based on Ancient Arabian mythology. Scheduled for a 2027 release on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, the game represents an early attempt to export Saudi historical narratives to mainstream international players. Alongside Nomad, Ash Games has developed Azooma Escape, a stealth-comedy title utilizing local humor.

This seed round highlights a structural shift in the Saudi gaming market. While global publishers have long viewed the country primarily as a lucrative consumer base, domestic investors are increasingly financing local developers to create exportable digital products.

Ash Games will allocate the new funding to expand its creative team and meet its production milestones. The founders are betting that authentic local storytelling, combined with international production standards, will allow them to capture commercial market share in an industry historically dominated by Western and Japanese franchises.