AfricaComicade's Six-Month Pre-Accelerator Program Empowers African Game Studios to Take on the World

The African game industry has come a long way since the 1990s, when Celestial Games, one of the earliest video game developers in the continent, struggled to create their first two PC games with limited resources and a team of four. Their initial ambition had to be narrowed to just one idea, taking over 18 months to complete with the aid of Vision Software, a local game distributor that funded the last six months of the development span.?

Today, 30 years later, with over 200 indie game studios, a vigorous African gaming industry valued at $2.14 billion (2024) and a growing CAGR of 11.62%, Africa’s game studios still grapple with similar limitations in creation, funding, and scaling. Despite the industry potential, African game studio founders have yet to harness the business opportunities within the industry fully. Auspiciously, Africacomicade's Ark Fellowship initiative is laying the groundwork to address these issues and enable African game studios to thrive.

What is the Ark Fellowship All About?

Traditionally, African game studios operate in isolation, lacking data for informed decisions. They independently publish their games and subsequently face monetization, marketing, and analytics difficulties. This approach proves inadequate for a rapidly growing industry like Africa's, where strategic planning is crucial for market success. The Ark Fellowship, launched in 2021 by Africacomicade, Africa's leading platform for stakeholders in the video game, immersive media, and XR industries, addresses this gap.

The Ark Fellowship is a six-month support investor-readiness pre-accelerator program specifically designed for African game studios. It empowers founders with entrepreneurial skills and connects them with potential publishers and funders.

The Ark Fellowship program consists of three stages:

• Investor and Business Readiness Program: The game studios receive training and support on various aspects of running a game business, such as pitch deck and presentation, financial and business model, marketing and communication, and operational support.

• Ark Pitch Competition: The game studios pitch their games to a panel of industry leaders from leading publishing and production houses, to receive relevant feedback, advice and prototype grants.?

• Publisher and Accelerator Introduction: The game studios get introduced to potential publishers, investors, and other programs, that can help them to scale their growth.

The Impact of the Ark Fellowship So Far

The Ark Fellowship program has empowered over 30 African game studios since its inception in 2021. The program has yielded significant achievements for participating studios, such as:

• Access to several events for showcase, networking and pitching.
• Business and technical training/support.
• Winning Prototype and Ads grants to support the development of their projects.
• Fellows have also secured awards and media/press coverage including free exclusive access to programs and events.

Ark Pitch Fellows have included Raven Illusion Studio , Code Red Studios, VCD Studios, Inuv8 Studios , Mhiracle Studios, SwiftXR , Logic Dev, 7D Games Studio, Dash Studios Inc. , N'ganin Games, Deluxe Creation Studios and Isanja Boardgame , just to name a few. Looking ahead, the 2024 Ark Fellowship program aims to deliver more on its promise, supporting the growth of a sustainable gaming industry on the continent. You can read a more comprehensive recap of the ARK Fellowship 2023 program here

Written By Fredrick Favour