With Africa’s gaming industry approaching a milestone revenue of $1 billion in 2024, giant tech firms are beginning to show excitement about its growth potential. African gaming has been boosted by increased internet access across the continent, reports VoANews.
From about 2014 to 2022, the percentage of people with internet access doubled from about 19% to 40%. Aided also by the increasing affordability of low- to mid-end tech, these have given Africa greater access to the global gaming industry in terms of both playing and development.
Interactive storytelling and culture
Kenyan game developer Daniel Macharia developed the adventure-action game Nairobbery. The game is a fight ’em up platformer that sees two college students navigating the streets of Nairobi, fighting their way past gangsters, thieves, and corrupt cops. “There was some kind of parallel serendipity that was happening there where the game was starting to mirror real life,” Macharia explains, “That was just more validation that I chose to go the right way.”
Pan African Gaming Group chairman Jay Shapiro, speaking to VoANews, sees this investment as an opportunity to grow gaming as a different mode of cultural exchange through art. “Africa has a heritage of thousands of years of stories and legends that have never been heard in a lot of the world,” he said. He recognises the potential societal impact of “creating games where Africans can see themselves reflected in the game, which historically has never happened in the industry.”
Eyram Tawia, a Ghanaian game developer, agrees. “Video games also offer a medium to preserve culture for the long term that can be packaged and distributed globally with just one click across app stores if we keep producing local content.”
Tech comes a-knocking
Big Tech firms have come to take note, launching their own forays into the African market. Microsoft, Disney, and Sony have raised millions of dollars in funding to help develop more games and accelerate game consumption in Africa. According to a Geopoll survey, gaming is becoming Africa’s premier source of entertainment, with 73% of respondents stating that they play for fun, and 63% for stress relief. Another report on the African gaming industry says user count has grown from 77 million in 2015 to 186 million in 2021, 95% percent of those playing on their phones.
Ebenezer Gasonoo, known as Nomak online, has been playing since the ’90s. He still remembers a time when global game developers did not recognize African players as they lacked support for them. As local developers like Macharia and Tawia continue to create games that reflect African experiences and resonate with audiences, the industry is set to become a giant entertainment platform for cultural exchange and economic growth.