Over the past five years, the African video game market has experienced rapid development. Until then almost non-existent, it has gradually gained international visibility thanks to the work of many local studios.
American video game publisher Xbox, owned by Microsoft, honored Cameroonian video game studio Kiro’o Games on Friday, June 28. To this end, it released an exclusive trailer on its ID@Xbox YouTube channel (which promotes the best of upcoming independent games on Xbox One and Windows PC) celebrating Kiro’o Games’ 20 years of work. This promotional communication comes one month after the release of the game “Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan”, published by Kiro’o Games, on the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles.
The Xbox trailer shows Aurion’s evolution from a small hobbyist project on RPG Maker to an indie game with beautiful hand-made graphics. The original game was made under the XNA framework which was offered for free by Microsoft at the time and allowed many studios to try their hand at indie adventures.
Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is an action-RPG game set in an African Fantasy context inspired by the old “Tales of” J-RPGs. It takes up the myths and legends of the African continent and offers real-time combat in a 2D view. The player plays the exiled king or queen of Zama, and must gather his “aurionic” power to build a world where everyone can understand each other despite their differences. The game’s plot centers on the difficulty of remaining altruistic in a cynical and selfish world.
« We know that the current situation is difficult for everyone. And this is precisely why we hope that players will discover the Kori-Odans and be inspired by the message that is hidden in their Legacy and in the Aurion. If you are a humanist idealist who feels crushed by the coldness of the world, Aurion is written for you », Explains Olivier Madiba, founder of Kiro’o Games and creator of Aurion.
Since 2013, the African video game industry has been growing. Across the continent, a generation of enthusiasts is mobilizing both for the exchange of experience and for the development of higher quality products. The objective is to promote African stories and the continent’s know-how. This is also one of the reasons why around ten game studios decided in February 2022 to pool their efforts within a group, the Pan Africa Gaming Group (PAGG). Kiro’o Games is one of them.
According to consulting firm Verified Market Research, “The African video game market is growing rapidly due to the increasing adoption of smartphones, improved internet access and a younger, tech-savvy population. Affordable mobile devices and improved internet infrastructure have made online gaming more accessible to a wider range of people, increasing the demand for localized content that reflects the continent’s cultural and linguistic diversity.”
“Urbanization and rising disposable incomes have given rise to a growing middle class hungry for digital entertainment, driving game creators to deliver specialized experiences to African gamers, enabling the market to surpass $2.14 billion in revenue by 2024 and reach a valuation of approximately $3.72 billion by 2031.”adds the consulting firm.
For the Cameroonian studio, the confidence displayed by Xbok will allow it to reach a vast base of potential players around the world, a guarantee of visibility, credibility and revenue opportunities.
Muriel Edjo
Read also:
Video games: 10 African studios create a continental publisher and target 680 million gamers by 2025
Cameroonian Olivier Madiba is one of the pioneers of the African video game industry
