Although people are also gripped by the soap operas they watch on television and big sporting competitions like the Premier League, the dominant entertainment medium in Africa is gaming and, more specifically, mobile gaming. A mobile-first market, smartphone gaming is in a healthy position in Africa and the rest of the world.
With Total smartphone connections in Africa to hit 700 million by 2025, gaming is one of the most promising industries.
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Today, gaming audiences certainly aren’t short on products they can access on a smartphone device. While the opportunity to explore favoured puzzle products is hard to turn down, such as Candy Crush Saga, gamers can also stream Call of Duty content on platforms like Twitch, alongside making the most of useful resources like a Sic Bo guide before diving in for a gaming session of a favoured casino product of ancient Chinese origin that was brought to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century by Chinese immigrants. The options are certainly extensive.
The enticing products for African gamers have resulted in more and more of the public discovering the delights of smartphone gaming, in particular. In fact, there has been evidence of explosive growth of gaming in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the number of mobile gamers doubling to 186 million in 2021 alone. Put simply, gaming on a portable handheld device is the clear favourite when it comes to playing games in Africa.
What is the appeal of smartphone gaming on the continent of Africa?
While smartphone gaming’s overall rise around the world can be credited with the improved games that our phones can handle and its portable nature that provides a convenient entertainment opportunity for people to sample, in Africa, it has experienced further growth thanks to a number of other factors, too.
For starters, as more and more smartphone devices are hitting the shelves in Africa, the increase in smartphone availability has resulted in more and more people discovering the benefits of smartphone gaming. These important tools boast immense power that enables them to shine beyond the communication functionalities they were initially intended for, with African users now having instant access to a readymade gaming device.
While the infrastructural challenges are still there, Africa is making giant strides in terms of its internet penetration, with a number of companies bringing better internet connections to African people, coupled with the introduction of more dedicated servers that provide a smoother online gaming experience. For example, Carry1st recently partnered with giants Activision to bring the smash-hit release, Call of Duty: Mobile, to African audiences.
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— Call of Duty: Mobile News 📲 (@codmINTEL) July 5, 2023
A range of new and improved products are coming
With the African mobile gaming market now upping the ante and bringing a more detailed offering to African gamers, it’s a gaming category that is expected to experience notable enhancements in the next few years.
Alongside being able to enjoy augmented reality masterpieces like Pokemon Go and access an even bigger library of console-quality games, such as the aforementioned Call of Duty: Mobile, mobile gamers in this part of the world are expected to be treated to even more detailed gaming products in the future.
As evidence suggests, this dominant entertainment medium is only going to get bigger and better on the continent of Africa.