Ubisoft's Fawzi Mesmar on Bringing Arabic Voices to Video Games

Ahead of Abu Dhabi’s Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries on April 28, Ubisoft vice-president Fawzi Mesmar makes the case for why embracing diverse perspectives leads to blockbuster hits.

Fawzi Mesmar, vice-president of editorial at Ubisoft. Image: Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre.

By Hannah Johnson | @HannahSJohnson

‘We’re All Inspired by Each Other’

At Abu Dhabi’s third International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries (Congress PCI) on April 28, the full-day program focuses on what entertainment and media sectors can learn from each other, and on bringing together creative professionals from the Arab world and international markets.

One of this year’s Congress PCI speakers, Fawzi Mesmar, is working on creative industries and diversity. He’s an internationally recognized video-game developer and currently is vice-president of editorial at Ubisoft.

Alongside his experience in developing video games and leading cross-cultural teams, Mesmar works to empower the next generation of game designers in the Arab world. He produced the first comprehensive Arabic-language book on game design, Al-Khallab on the Art of Game Design, and he’s part of a weekly game-developer podcast called The Habibis with Osama Dorias and Rami Ismail.

Ahead of the Congress, Publishing Perspectives interviewed Mesmar to learn more about his approach to gaming, creative work, and supporting the video-game industry in the Arab world.

‘Diverse Teams Make Better Products’

Publishing Perspectives: You have experience working in game development in the Middle East, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. How has that global perspective influenced your approach to storytelling and creative direction?

Fawzi Mesmar: What I love about game development is that no matter where I am in the world, we’re united by our passion for the medium. I can walk into any game studio and know that I’ll have that in common with my colleagues. It’s wonderful to be able to have the commonality but, equally important, to celebrate the differences.

‘Al-Khallab on the Art of Game Design’

Being able to work with people from so many different backgrounds showed me the importance of keeping an open mind. One thing that can be considered so welcoming in one culture can be considered so rude in another. Therefore, I like to always assume good intent, learn, and ask questions.

Most of all, I like to explore different perspectives and avoid “absolute truths.” Trying to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes is a thing that video games do that no other medium does in the same way. Applying this mindset allows us to make better games, and my travels have really taught me that.

Publishing Perspectives: Why is it important for major gaming franchises to embrace diverse perspectives and inclusive storytelling? How can this help build deeper connections with fans?

Fawzi Mesmar: There’s been research that confirms this: diverse teams make better products. Our games can only become better if we have so many different perspectives and ideals come together, share our experiences, our points of view, and our heritage and meld them into a game that has the capacity to speak to many people.

Video gaming is a world industry. People enjoy it everywhere. The more inclusive we are, the more likely it is that we’ll speak to someone somewhere and inspire them on their life’s journey.

I remember being inspired by Space Invaders, Mario, and so many other games growing up. I also remember being inspired when I played the first Assassin’s Creed and saw my culture being represented on a large scale for the first time. It was a very impactful moment for me that lasted for a long time.

Publishing Perspectives: How do you see the relationship between gaming and other creative industries like publishing, film, and so on? Are there opportunities for cross-pollination of stories and intellectual property?

Fawzi Mesmar: Absolutely. I’ve worked with so many different IPs during my career, from Star Wars to Marvel and Hasbro. Two of my favorite games from last year were a Spider Man game and the Witcher games series, based on fantasy novels of the same names.

When it comes to entertainment, we’re all inspired by each other and we affect each other’s work greatly. I’m seeing the games industry affecting moviemaking heavily lately. Even The Mandalorian television series [part of the Star Wars franchise] used a game engine to create some of its scenes. That’s probably going to continue to happen for the foreseeable future across all our industries.

Publishing Perspectives: Your panel at this year’s Congress PCI is about “cross-border storytelling.” What potential do you see for Arabic stories and creative works to reach world audiences through media like gaming?

Fawzi Mesmar: The video-game industry is now the largest and most popular form of entertainment by far. In terms of revenues, it’s bigger than movies, television, music, and books combined.

We’re at a stage in which everybody games to some capacity. From traditional gaming on consoles and PCs, to virtual-reality headsets and smartphones, it’s ubiquitous and with greater reach than anything else.

That makes it an ideal space for Arab creative players to tell their stories to audiences that may not have heard of them before. In fact, audiences of gaming are frequently craving originality, especially from places they’re not familiar with. I can’t wait to see what an Arab Witcher game will be like or what other new forms of storytelling we can get from our culture that speak to the world.

Publishing Perspectives: Ubisoft has many long-running and fan-favorite gaming franchises. How do you balance respecting those existing fan bases while injecting new perspectives into the storytelling?

Fawzi Mesmar: We are player-obsessed.’ We care about our players, and we invest a lot in getting to know them, having direct channels of communications, and gathering their feedback. Everything we do, we do from the lens of our players and what they like.

We’d like to think that we should also know what they don’t know they like yet—and surprise them with that, as well. We want to maintain their confidence while we surprise and delight with new experiences. It’s a delicate balance, but our creative teams constantly maintain a great discussion with our fans and fuel their creativity to come up with new things.

More About Congress PCI

Onstage at the 2022 inaugural production of the International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries. Image: Porter Anderson, Publishing Perspectives

At this year’s Congress PCI, Fawzi Mesmar will participate in panel discussion at 2:45 p.m. called Cross-Border Storytelling through Game Adaptations along with Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, and Lisa Hanson, CEO of Niko Partners. The discussion will be moderated by Edward Nawotka of Publishers Weekly.

Now in its third year, the International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries is organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre and takes place the day before the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair opens. Organizers say they aim to continue expanding this conference event into “a knowledge-sharing hub for regional and global publishing and creative content developers in the Arab market.”

In addition to a full day of professional discussions, the program includes workshops and masterclasses for creative professionals and students, as well as an exhibition of technology and creative companies working in the Arab world and internationally.

Follow Publishing Perspectives for more coverage of this year’s Congress PCI.

More from Publishing Perspectives on the Abu Dhabi International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries is here, more on the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is here, more on the United Arab Emirates’ market is here, more from us on book fairs and trade shows in world publishing is here, and more on Arabic in the publishing world is here.

Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, another program produced by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre.

About the Author

Hannah Johnson

Hannah Johnson is the publisher of international book industry magazine Publishing Perspectives, which provides daily information and news about book markets around the world. In addition to building partnerships with international cultural and trade organizations, she works with the Frankfurt Book Fair to organize and support a number of its overseas initiatives. Hannah has also worked as the managing editor for an online media company, The Hooch Life, focused on craft distillers and cocktail experts. Prior to that, she worked as a project manager for the Frankfurt Book Fair’s New York office, managing various business and marketing activities.