Tamatem Games is a Jordanian mobile game developer and publisher founded by Hussam Hammo, based in Amman. The company has worked internationally with multiple collaborators to aid in localising games for the Arab world.
History
Background Tamatem Games was founded by Hussam Hammo in 2013 upon realising there were a lack of Arabic games available online in the Arabic-speaking world. Tamatem received its first acceleration opportunity from 500 Startups, a U.S. accelerator and incubator in Silicon Valley, California in April 2013.
Tamatem also took part in a three-month growth hacking program at WeWork where it signed its first publishing deal with Tapinator to localise and bring its games to the Middle Eastern and Northern African markets. In 2013, Tamatem led its first round of seed investments that gave it $350,000 from MENA Venture Investments and 500 Startups. Following its seed round, Tamatem also secured a second round of funds in 2015 that came in from Kuwaiti-based fund Arzan VC.
Milestones
Awad the Delivery King is a racing game produced in collaboration with Jordanian animation studio Kharabeesh and was published in 2014. It was downloaded over 1 million times in less than a year since its release. This helped the company hit its 6 million downloads mark.
By 2015, Tamatem had a 35-game portfolio running on both Android and iOS devices. It hit 40,000 downloads per day and received investments from both regional and international investors. A Dumb Question, one of Tamatem's games released in 2015, became the number 1 downloaded app in Saudi Arabia four days after its release.
In 2016, Tamatem had 16 million total downloads and 41 published games, half of which reached No.1 on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. The portfolio of games had more than 2.1 million active users monthly and 350,000 active users daily. The company was experiencing a 40% month-over-month growth in downloads and revenue. By the end of 2017, Tamatem Games reached 40 million downloads for a total of 50 published games.
In 2018, Tamatem raised a Series A investment round of $2.5 million. The round was led by Wamda Capital with participation from Discovery Nusantara Capital, Raed Ventures, Vision Ventures, and Seed Equity Venture Partners. 2018 was also the year that Tamatem signed with Lithuanian-based mobile game developers Game Insight to publish and localise Airport City in the Arabic-speaking market.
In 2020, Tamatem continued its Series A investment round, raising another $3.5 million also led by Wamda Capital along with Modern Electronics Company and North Base Media. In the same year, Tamatem also partnered with Croatian video game developer Nanobit to publish and launch the mobile game Hollywood Story in the Arabic-speaking market. In 2020, Tamatem doubled in size and expanded from 35 to 70 employees in 6 months.
In 2021, PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds creator Krafton led Tamatem's Series B investment round, closing at $11 million. The round—seeing participation from Venture Souq, Endeavor Catalyst, and other existing investors—brought Tamatem's total amount of funding to over $17 million since its inception.
In 2022, Tamatem announced a partnership with MSA Novo and its entrance and expansion into the Chinese mobile games market.
In 2023, Tamatem partnered with Tap Payments and ZEGOCLOUD to integrate mobile payments and voice chats into its mobile gaming platform.
Business Model
Tamatem's business model is based on a split-revenue partnership. Tamatem partners with game developers from around the world to publish their games in the Arab region. Revenue is split based on an agreement between Tamatem and the developer. Tamatem has published games in the Arab world from developers in the United States, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, Bulgaria, and Croatia.
List of games Game Year Published Genre4 Pics 1 Word (لعبة سؤال وأربع صور)2013TriviaTower Building (لعبة بناء البرج)2013CasualAwad The Delivery King (لعبة ملك التوصيل)2014RacingSing To Me Songs & Tunes Game ( لعبة أغاني وألحان)2014MusicA Dumb Question (لعبة السؤال القوي)2014TriviaThe Mysterious Quiz Game (لعبة اللغز الخفي)2014TriviaMoron Test (إختبار الغباء)2015TriviaMoron Test 2 (إختبار الغباء ٢)2015TriviaMoron Test 3 (إختبار الغباء ٣)2015TriviaMoron Test 4 (إختبار الغباء ٤)2015PuzzleDeath Road (شارع الموت) 2015ActionWho's Right? (مين الصح؟)2015TriviaThunder Bolt Car (السيارة الصاعقة)2015ActionThe Little Dinasour (الديناصور الصغير)2015CasualChicken Town (تشيكن تاون)2015CasualShake the Metal (هز الحديد) 2015RacingPolice Car Simulator (شرطة التدخل السريع)2016RacingPizza Zombie2016ActionMystery of the Past (لغز الماضي)2016AdventureTank Trail (درب المدرعات)2016RacingMafia Boss (زعيم المافيا)2016CasualA Dumb Question 2 (لعبة السؤال القوي) 2 2016TriviaZombie Attack (هجوم الزومبي) 2016CasualHidden Mystery 2 (اللغز الخفي)2016PuzzleStep on it! (ادعس يا شنب)2016RacingOne by One (واحد واحد)2016BoardParKing (ملك الاصطفاف)2016RacingVIP Baloot2016CardDownshift: Online Drifting (غيار عكسي)2016RacingDynasty Blades (صقور الأرض)2017MMORPGAirport City2018StrategyVIP Jalsat2018CardArab Shield (درع العرب)2018Strategy role-playing gameRage of the Righteous (غضب الشجعان)2018Role PlayingBandar's Farm (مزرعة بندر) 2019CasualFashion Queen (ملكة الموضة)2019Role-playing gameWords Island (جزيرة الحروف) 2020CasualGirls' Secrets (أسرار البنات)2020Role-playing gameFood Truck Chef (أفضل شف)2020SimulationHome Design Expert 2020SimulationClash of Empire (تحدي الملوك)2021Strategy role-playing game
Awards Award Year OrganisationBest Game of the Year [in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates]2014AppleEmerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017 Ernst & YoungBest SME Jordan2017Bank Al-Etihad2nd Place at Startup Istanbul Scaleup Finals2019 Startup IstanbulArabian Business Startup of the Year2019 Arabian Business Startup AwardsPocket Gamer Awards: Best Publisher Finalists2020 Pocket GamerBest YouTube Channel 2021 Peacock Social Media Awards100,000 Subscribers Milestone2021 YouTubePocket Gamer Awards: Best Publisher Finalists2022 Pocket Gamer
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