Bridging cultures at Africa Games Week 2024

When SpielFabrique offered me the chance to visit Cape Town for Africa Games Week, I was full of excitement. It was my first time in the city and at the event, and the reality exceeded the hype: picturesque views, friendly people and great food, on top of an interconnected creative ecosystem of initiatives, incubators, accelerators, schools and studios sharing knowledge — a perfect foundation for continuous growth.

The speakers and panellists shared valuable, inspiring insights. There are still many challenges to overcome, but despite (or perhaps because of) them, African studios are finding creative ways to succeed and showing real resilience.

During the SpielFabrique workshop I met a motivated, creative and talented group working on amazing projects — from small teams making genuinely innovative stuff to established studios running big productions. I was glad to talk not only about mobile games but also about local mobile-game subscription markets and the opportunities they bring.

Looking at the world's tensions, it can feel like things are tearing apart. Africa Games Week was building bridges instead — between individuals, countries and continents. My key takeaway: while traditional industries followed east-west exchange, the digital era benefits from staying within the same time zone, opening a promising new north-south route for African-European digital partnerships. The event seeded many future collaborations, and I'm looking forward to developing them.