Microsoft, through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO), has announced that Xbox Game Studios Game Camp is finally coming to the continent of Africa this July. The camp was started in 2014 in Sweden and was later expanded into a global program in 2020, allowing aspiring game developers across the world to participate in panels, presentations, workshops, meet Xbox personnel and realise the potential of gaming everywhere in the world. South Africa is one of the four locations that the in-person camp will take place in but it can be attended online too. Here’s how you can apply.
From 15-16 July this year, Xbox Game Studios Game Camp will host online and in-person sessions encouraging beginners and professionals currently in game development on the African continent to take part. Game Camp will provide the opportunity for African game developers and industry workers to pitch ideas and games as well as attend viewing parties, on-site panel sessions and personally meet Microsoft and Xbox employees.
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The State of the African Games Industry 2022 finds that South Africa has the highest saturation of gamers, with 24m people playing within a population of 59m (40%). In Ghana, 27% of people play games, with 23% in Nigeria, 22% in Kenya, and 13% in Ethiopia.
Xbox head Phil Spencer provided a statement on the Game Camp initiative:
“At Microsoft, we are excited to enable African game developers and creators to build faster through access to tools and resources, and to help their games be discovered by players in Africa and around the world. We want to grow strong roots in this significant market for gaming and game development. The ATO and Xbox personnel will also combine efforts to identify game studios to invest in through our Startups acceleration programme and venture capital investment partners. I’m looking forward to seeing what innovative concepts this Game Camp produces.”
Xbox Game Studios Game Camp will be hosted at four in-person locations in Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi on 15 and 16 July. To participate, you must be of legal age, reside in any country on the African continent and must be studying or working part or full-time in the fields of software development, visual arts, 3D, music and audio, web design, narrative design, or professional project management.
To apply and see the full list of participation requirements, visit the official Xbox Game Camp website.
