A West African game publisher announced that African game developers are starting to emerge from out of the shadows. After certain regions got a boost in infrastructure from China, various studios have been popping up and looking to take part in the global economy. Part of their initiative is attending the major trade shows from around the world, including GamesCom, which is set to take place in Cologne, Germany.
West African publisher Paradise Game announced that five game developers will have their games on display at this year’s GamesCom, including the African-made side-scroller from Frontfire Studios, Onizumu, which is inspired by Japanese anime. You can check out the prototype video from last year of the Unity 3D-powered game in action.
To be an indie title some of the animations actually look pretty good. Also, the intermixing of cinematics and gameplay could help Onizumu stand out among the throng of other beat-’em-up indie titles.
They’ve also recently been improving the shaders, adding better shadowing, and giving the game an overall more cartoony look and feel.
Studio Lamay from Madagascar is working on two projects, including Dahalo and a racing game called Gazkar.
Gazkar is a mobile racing game, so if you were expecting something for the Xbox One or PS4 or a high-end sim racer for PC, you’re fresh out of luck. You can check out the teaser trailer for the game below.
Masseka Game Studio also has a project that will be on display at this year’s GamesCom, called Kissoro: Tribal Game.
The demonstration video is in French, but the developer walks through the basics of the gameplay and what you can expect from the mobile-style strategy title.
Weza Interactive Entertainment from Kenya also has a 2D side-scrolling platformer that will be on display at GamesCom. It’s another mobile-style game based on West African culture. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in the game or what the purpose is, but it has something to do with jumping on purple platforms. I don’t really know.
The last game is from an indie dev from Niger called Mog Media Design. The game is called Ship Protektor, and it’s some sort of side-scrolling arcade shooter.
According to Paradise Game’s CEO, Sidick Bakayoko, the $100 billion dollar games industry is ripe for the pickings, especially the mobile sector, which represents 27% of the revenue. According to Bakayoko, more than 500 million Africans have mobile phones and could be ripe for monetization, saying in the press release…
“Our dream is to have video games as one of the main driver of the African economy, and as a way to employ millions of people throughout the continent. In order to get there, we need a strong ecosystem with game developers from Africa who export their games in the world and gain publicity internationally”
Between August 19th and August 20th the Paradise Game booth will play host to the five aforementioned African game developers where their games will be on display. Just as a side note, Onizumu actually has a really good chance of becoming a sleeper hit if it’s marketed correctly.
