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Mobile Is The Present And Future Of African Gaming

Mobile Is The Present And Future Of African Gaming

In Africa, mobile phones will be the dominant gaming device of choice, not consoles and computers, experts believe, according to a BBCNews report by Gabriella Mulligan.

African gaming is still in its infancy and needs more investment, gaming studio bosses say. Game creators are using African themes to attract local customers, and they say games that tell African stories can become popular worldwide.

“Because of the portability and accessibility of mobile phones, mobile is the best medium for gaming in Africa,” says gaming enthusiast Allan Mukhwana. “Most people are engaged with their mobile phones.”

The African gaming market is still in its infancy. Video games don’t have much uptake among the population, especially on PCs and consoles, according to BBC.

Nigeria’s video game market was worth $71 million at the end of 2013, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Kenya’s was valued at $44 million.

Compared to the $20. 5-billion U.S. market in 2013, African sales seem minuscule.

But in coming years, all African gaming markets are expected to see double-digit annual growth, BBC reports.

Not everyone wants fancy games that cost hundreds of dollars and that require a lot of commitment to play, Mukhwana said. “Since mobile games often cost a dollar or less and can be downloaded in a pinch, even people who aren’t avid gamers can still enjoy a quick game during a break from work, or when they’re sitting on the bus.”

Abiola Olaniran is founder and CEO of Gamsole, which specializes in creating games for the Windows phone platform. His games have been downloaded over 10 million times in the last 18 months.

The company is now looking to expand its products to other mobile systems including basic, low-cost phones aka feature phones.

“Mobile is the single channel that cuts across all demographics of gamers,” Olaniran told BBC. “Gaming is still a nascent industry in Africa. Due to the high rate of mobile device penetration, mobile can serve as a converging point for both casual and hardcore gamers.”

One way Gamsole is pushing adoption of games in Africa is by creating games with an African flavor with local characters telling African stories based in African cities.

“African-themed games can be the future of gaming if people can relate with the content on a personal basis, based on their daily life experiences,” Olaniran told BBC. “This is one way to push adoption of games in Africa.”

Olaniran also believes African-themed games can become popular worldwide. “At Gamsole, our idea of African games is not games by Africans for Africans. No, it’s games by Africans for the globe,” he told BBC.

Showing the world Africa through gaming

“Africa is shifting to a position where we don’t only want to learn other people’s story, we also want to share our stories, cultures, experiences, and lifestyle with the whole world, and I think that African-themed games are a good medium to achieve this,” said Feyi Aderibigbe, a university student.

Allan Mukhwana runs Momentum Core, a gaming studio in Nairobi that specializes in developing games with an educational twist.

In the game Mosquito Hood, players must kill increasingly pesky mosquitoes. Malaria is the leading cause of death in Kenya, especially among young children. Each time a player completes all levels of the game, the Kenyan government has agreed to donate a mosquito net to a family living in a malarial zone.

Mukhwana has creates games aimed at raising HIV awareness.

Lack of financing and lack of awareness are some of the challenges facing Africa’s games developers, says Lakunle Ogungbamila, founder of Nigeria’s Kuluya Games.

“Local games can only be popular if people know they exist,” he said. “Discovery is still a big issue for development shops like ours, but we are making active moves to resolve this.”

Limited investment in Africa’s games studios also hinders development of the sector, he said.