Now back for its third year, Microsoft has announced the return of the Xbox Game Camp, where it hopes to continue its mission of supporting and uplifting game developers “across the continent.” It last made an appearance in July 2024, where it hosted three in-person conferences in South Africa, Morocco, and Kenya.
This year, it’s doing things a little differently. With ID@Xbox’s Developer Acceleration Program (DAP) at the helm, it will instead gather “pre-selected professional game studios from across Africa for a 12-week structured program.” Previous iterations saw more than 1,900 ‘new-to-industry game creators’ in attendance.
Pitching the Xbox Game Camp
It’s too bad that Xbox has dropped the open-conference format, which took on both professionals and newcomers to the world of game development, and has even led to the creation of some big games, by its own admission. Hiru, from Kunta Content, for example. Not that the new format won’t prove itself to be just as effective. Perhaps Microsoft can find value in both — and possibly bring back the ‘original’ Game Camp in 2026.
“We are bringing the continent of Africa to life in a way that has never been seen before. This trailer is a testament to our team’s passion and the incredible support from Xbox, starting with Xbox Game Camp,” it said.
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Teams inducted into this year’s Game Camp Africa can expect the same support received by the developers behind Hiru, with the possibility of seeing their own game reach unexplored heights. Whether that’s through console gaming or mobile development, the camp will take developers from concept to prototyping, with some networking thrown in. The Xbox Game Camp kicks off on 4 December 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Looking to get your team involved? Microsoft will only accept companies that are registered and currently operating within Africa, and in the business of software development, game development, visual arts, 3D visualisation, music/audio, or web design. If that’s you, you can email gamecamp@microsoft.com for more.
