eSports, Monetisation, and Collaboration Lead Gamathon ‘24

The past week, African video game stakeholders, including game developers, eSports providers, content creators, localisation specialists, and animators, convened for the fifth edition of Gamathon, a week-long gaming event hosted by AfricaComicade to foster collaboration and spark growth in the evolving gaming space in Africa, writes Ikenna Bede 

Globally, the video game sector surpasses the entertainment industry. The opposite is true in Africa. This year’s theme, tagged ‘Thrive,’ focused on how the gaming community can conduct a fair assessment of itself to explore growth opportunities. Key issues were raised and deliberated upon on the penultimate day in the series of activities for the week during the Gamathon conference held at the Odeya Centre, Lagos Island.

Hosting delegates from countries such as Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, and Benin, the conference featured three-panel sessions that highlighted issues such as the gaps that exist between eSports and local game development, monetisation, current trends in animation and gamification, as well as the potential benefits of multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary collaborations.

“A new generation has been raised on anime,” noted gaming business strategist Johana Riquier, highlighting her observation of the growing transmedia culture in Africa, which has seen African stories emerge in various formats.

“Looking at anime and watching it, I would say there is an increased response from communities. They want to create content not in the way the Koreans do but in a manner that reflects their diverse cultures—Yoruba, Igbo, and Twi. I’ve seen this in Senegal, and there is a rise in anime.”

Elaborating on ways to fast-track the evolution of the video game landscape and enable Africa to claim a significant share of the global gaming sector—especially given its enthusiastic, teeming youth—South African gaming and creative industries researcher Mxolisi Xaba emphasised the importance of collaboration.

Xaba said, “There are multi-sectoral, multidisciplinary collaborations taking place. It is wonderful to walk into a space built off comics that is now venturing into the gaming industry. While research indicates that there is a lot of collaboration and cross-sectoral exposure happening, I believe this will be the strength of Africa’s video game industry.

“If we can forge partnerships to exploit the existing value, we will find that there is already a captive audience to work with, so we won’t be starting from scratch.”

Xaba also advised independent game developers to prioritise gaining insight into market trends to guide their creative work and to focus on intellectual property through research or by enrolling in masterclasses to understand better how to monetise their products and which aspects to concentrate on.

There has been marked progress in Africa’s gaming sector through existing collaborative efforts. One of the co-founders of AfricaComicade, Oluwatosin Ogunyebi, explained that partnerships, such as the Spark Fellowship, have helped galvanise game developers to exchange ideas and build games while gaining relevant work experience in the programme.

“With the Spark Fellowship, we’ve had participants from different countries, and at the end of the programme, we secure internship roles for them across various regions,” said Ogunyebi. “This allows them to collaborate and exchange value, not just as individuals from one country, but as a united continent. In these cross-border collaborations, there are opportunities beyond our borders that we can leverage.”

He added, “We’ve also seen co-productions where game studios from Africa partner with international teams, allowing those outside the continent to help push the games to a global audience.”

In another section of the programme discussing the growing eSports culture in Nigeria, the limitations around featuring local games became a hot-button issue. Adebayo Onigbanjo, founder of 10N8E, a growing eSports provider in Nigeria, clarified some of the existing challenges facing the subsector, including server locations, existing infrastructure, and the need for an enabling ecosystem supported by the government.

Although local or African games are not yet a staple at most eSports events, Onigbanjo advised that developers should consider a community-based approach to get gamers to engage with their games and build a following.

Before the Gamathon conference, AfricaComicade curated a diverse range of activities designed to put a spotlight on Africa’s vibrant and evolving gaming community. Understanding the importance of community engagement and knowledge sharing, they aimed to create a platform where game developers from across the continent could come together, network, and exchange valuable insights. One of the key highlights was a delegate roundtable that brought together representatives from various countries to deliberate on the unique challenges developers face in their respective regions, such as limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, and the need for local support systems. The roundtable encouraged an open dialogue where delegates shared their experiences and brainstormed practical solutions, setting the tone for a collaborative and innovative approach to overcoming these barriers.

In an effort to deepen the spirit of collaboration and promote hands-on learning, AfricaComicade also organised an immersive tour of some of Lagos’s prominent game studios. This initiative aimed to bridge the gap between different stakeholders in the industry, enabling delegates and other participants to interact directly with game developers and creative professionals. The tour included visits to renowned studios such as Kucheza Gaming, Spoof Animations, Maliyo Games, MAD House by Tikera Africa, and VX Central. Delegates had the opportunity to observe the creative process, explore the studios’ operations, and engage in discussions on topics like sustainable development, scaling for international audiences, and leveraging technology for global collaborations.

To conclude Gamathon, game developers introduced the audience to their games during the ARK PITCH segment. Some showcased completed projects, while others announced upcoming launch dates, providing insights into the solutions each game offers, from educational tools to entertainment experiences. 

Unlike last year, no funds were disbursed during this initial pitch; instead, this year’s pitch serves as the entry point to the fellowship programme, a pre-accelerator initiative. Twenty studios will be selected to enter the fellowship, where they will refine their projects before pitching again for funding. The final pitch will see them competing for a $50,000 pool prize.