His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday inaugurated the Jordan Interactive Gaming Laboratory, established under a Royal initiative.

The lab, which was opened Saurday on the sidelines of the first Jordan-US Business Forum, aims to provide technical training, resources and equipment for start-ups in the field of game development.

Established with support from the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) and the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (int@j), the lab aims at boosting the electronic games industry to turn Jordan into a regional hub for game developers.

The laboratory is operated by Oasis 500, under the supervision of the Jordan Gaming Task Force, which groups six local game developers who seek to organise the gaming sector in Jordan and provide support for start-ups.

Participants in the laboratory will learn the "essentials of game design, from story to interface to sound effects," the task force chairperson.

Also on Saturday, King Abdullah attended an exhibition by teams participating in an electronic games competition organised by KAFD and presented prizes to the winners from the Amman National School.

Participating students, aged between 15 and 17, worked in groups of five to design applications for mobile devices.