Johannesburg, 23 Jun 2022
Gaming is booming in Africa with forecasts that the industry will grow by 12% annually from 2021 to 2026. In part, this can be attributed to the fact that people were forced to stay at home for the better part of two years due to the pandemic. Enthusiasts were spending more time and money on games, gaming consoles and gaming apps.
Approximately 60% of Africans are younger than 25 years old and more than one-third are between 15 and 34 years old. The same research suggests that Africa should still have the youngest population in the world by 2100, with an average age of 35.
The recent Africa Games Week, held in Cape Town, attracted more than 2 500 developers, coders, designers, investors and publishers. The high attendance highlighted the significant interest in local gaming content since the majority of games on the market originate from the US, Europe and Japan.
A report by Newzoo and Carry1st found South Africa to be the largest gaming market in sub-Saharan Africa, with an expected $290 million in consumer spending on games in 2021. However, it also showed how the gaming markets of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia are also growing and providing significant opportunities for local content providers. Despite the interest in console gaming, Africa is still a mobile-first market with the same research showing that 95% of the gaming market on the continent use mobile devices as their preferred platform.
The sizeable appetite for mobile gaming in Africa will result in local talent looking for innovative ways to develop apps for their home markets. This is where the HUAWEI Game Service comes in to equip developers with the means to create gaming apps at a low cost. It provides an excellent rendering framework and engine, versatile graphics debugging tools and network acceleration services that streamline game optimisation and will help usher in a golden age of developing next-generation titles out of Africa.
Using the HUAWEI Game Service, African developers get global coverage with a potential market size of millions of Huawei mobile phone users. Huawei has made an extensive resource library available to developers, including developer guides and API reference documents as well as code labs and software development kits. With an enormous variety of app and system-level functions to utilise, developers are only limited by their imagination.
Mobile apps are no longer considered the weak cousin to the powerful console and PC gaming segments. It has evolved into something which millions of gamers across the continent are passionate about. Whether it is single-player or massive online multi-player worlds, mobile gaming unlocks huge potential to be entertained and educated. HUAWEI is excited to be part of this revolution and will continue to provide unique development tools that, together with local talent, will enable mobile gaming well into the future.
To get your hands on the coolest in-app games, you can visit the AppGallery. Join millions of other gamers and download PUBG Mobile Aftermath, Township, Angry Birds 2 or Puzzles & Survival and many more.
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* Article first published on itweb.africa