Gaming Africa

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ghanaian gamer and broadcaster Kobby Spiky explores the video game landscape across Africa. He speaks to everyday gamers and developers about their experiences of playing and creating them. Although Asia and North America are usually seen as the hubs of the video game industry because they are the homes of the three major console manufacturers and some of the largest publishers in the world, countries like Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria are paving the way for Africa to emerge as the next big thing in gaming. As smartphones and tablets become more accessible, mobile gaming has taken hold across the continent. And as more people look for authentic characters and stories, African developers are standing out from their foreign competitors.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, I'm Kobby, a tech journalist from Accra and Ghana.
0:08.0	For as long as I can remember, I've loved playing video games, from Lord Rana and Dark Castle on the Macintosh to Colin
0:14.8	Macri Valley and Destruction Derby on the PC with a bit of tech in on the
0:18.7	PlayStation thrown in for good measure. During the 70s, 80s and 90s, most of the video games and consoles on the
0:26.4	markets either came from countries in East Asia or North America, and some from Europe. This is a trend that has continued well into the 21st century.
0:35.3	But now countries from another continent are starting to permeate the global
0:40.1	video game market as developers and studios from across Africa come to the
0:45.2	attention of gamers all over the continent and the world. I'm Kobe Spiky and over the next half an hour this is the documentary
0:56.9	Gaming Africa from the BBC World Service. As homes to companies synonymous service.
1:09.0	As homes to companies synonymous with video games like Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, and Sony, it's not hard to see why people think that Japan and the United States are the be-all and end-all of their development.
1:16.8	But now people and companies from the likes of South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and here in Ghana are making Africa the next big thing in gaming and taking
1:25.8	their share of an industry worth over $200 billion.
1:30.0	The vast majority of gaming that takes place in African nations is mobile, people playing games that they have downloaded onto a smartphone.
1:37.0	Good to see you again.
1:38.0	Good to see you, Spike.
1:40.0	Last time we met was at your former office,
1:42.0	and Hartchim. Yes. Is it Hartchua? No. Last that we met was at your former office, Ayram Teria, co-founder Gagnan Company Lettie Arts with Wesley Kirrania in 2009.
1:51.0	Ayram is also the author of the book Uncomprising Passion,
1:55.0	The Humble Begin Industries of an African video game industry.
1:59.0	Almost every Africa has phones.
2:02.0	So there are devices that are in abundance right and there are a lot of
2:08.2	mobile games that people play in their free time.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.