As the world lifts the latest COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Africa Games Week team and the City of Cape Town (COCT) are looking forward to the rescheduled event happening in February 2022.
The Africa Games Week that was originally scheduled for early December 2021 remains a hybrid event, live at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and virtually on the event platform from 23 to 25 February.
It is also the largest gathering of African Game Developers in the world, with over 150 developers from across the continent gathering in one place.
According to event co-founder, Rex Bowden, when they decided to restore the live component to Africa Games Week in 2021, they did so with the understanding that it would only go ahead if they could keep their staff, speakers, delegates and partners safe.
“The new variant presented too many unknowns to let the live portion of the event continue in good conscience.
“And while we could have moved the event to a fully virtual format, we believed it would compromise too much on the excellent program we had developed with all the Hosted Buyers, Creators and Developers we were flying out from Africa and other parts of the world,” he said.
Bowden went on to say that the 2022 event is all about growing and strengthening the African Developer and Creator community through developing new, stronger relationships through in-person meetings and experiences.
City of Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, further mentioned that gaming is becoming one of the most important and innovative sectors in technology.
“It is an area that cuts across various industries, creating solutions in entertainment and education, and has the potential for investment and major job creation opportunities,” he expressed.
According to Hill-Lewis, one of the COCT’s goals is to provide more support to this industry, including putting in place infrastructure and other mechanisms that enable it to thrive.
“Our support for events such as Africa Games Week is aimed at ensuring that game developers, especially the youth, have platforms to display their work while also meeting industry experts who can elevate their skills,” he adds.
Event
The Make Games Africa – Business of Gaming conference is joined by the Nordic Game Discovery Contest (Sweden) and will showcase the A MAZE (Berlin) Train Jam, which occurred online in December 2021.
Africa StreamCon, a conference and meet-up for African and International content creators, is bringing in advertising agencies, platforms, brands, lawyers and creators to explain to each other how they see the industry developing to create shared perspectives and goals.
Games for Change, who empowers game creators and social innovators to drive real-world change using games and immersive media, will be launching their African Chapter during this year’s event, in preparation for their first African satellite event in 2022.
Gamers can now book their tickets to Africa Game Week 2022 or head over to the Africa Games Week 2022 platform to reserve their space.
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Picture: Supplied