Carry1st, a video game studio based in Cape Town, South Africa, has announced a strategic partnership with Sony, the Japanese consumer electronics and gaming giant, via its Sony Innovation Fund venture arm.
The partnership, which was revealed exclusively to CNBC, will involve a range of commercial opportunities for both companies, as they explore ways to collaborate on certain games and grow the PlayStation brand in Africa.
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Why it matters and what Carry1st does
In 2018, Tinotenda Mundangepfupfu, Lucy Hoffman, and Cordel Robbin-Coker—who had met while working at Morgan Stanley in New York—founded Carry1st. The company’s goal is to produce and release games that are customised for African gamers’ likes and preferences while also giving game developers a platform to connect with and earn from their audience across the continent.
A number of games have been created and released by Carry1st, including Africa’s Legends, a role-playing game that incorporates African mythology and folklore, and Carry1st Trivia, an app for live quiz shows that pays out cash prizes to participants. Additionally, the business has collaborated with international game developers like CrazyLabs and Gameloft to distribute its titles throughout Africa.
How to allow players in Africa to pay for games and in-game content utilising local bank accounts, infrastructure, and payment methods like M-Pesa and mobile wallets is one of the major problems that Carry1st has resolved. Game developers can generate money from their creations on Carry1st, the company’s online marketplace for games and supplemental content, by using Pay1st, a localised payment service.
Up till now, Carry1st has raised more than $10 million from investors, including Riot Games, Konvoy, CRE Venture Capital, and now Sony. Additionally, the business has received other honours, including the Google Indie Games Accelerator and the AppsAfrica Innovation Award.
How Sony is growing in Africa and supporting Carry1st
Sony is taking a risk by investing in Africa’s video game market, which has expanded quickly in recent years despite a general dip in sales worldwide following the pandemic. According to data by Carry1st and venture capital firm Konvoy, the gaming market in Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to produce over $1 billion for the first time in 2024.
Sony’s venture arm, the Sony Innovation Fund, which backs entrepreneurs in the entertainment, gaming, and technology sectors, has made an undisclosed investment in Carry1st. The agreement is a calculated risk investment that will allow the two businesses to collaborate on various business ventures. According to Robbin-Coker, CNBC, the two businesses are currently in the “exploratory stages” of their collaboration.
According to him, the cooperation will probably involve working together on some games, such co-producing or co-publishing titles that are aimed at both African and international players. He added that the alliance will aid in Carry1st’s team expansion; at the moment, 40 employees work for the company in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, and the US. He stated that the business is trying to expand its staff, particularly in the areas of engineering, design, and the arts.
According to Robbin-Coker, he is enthusiastic about the future of gaming in Africa and thinks that Carry1st and Sony will encourage more individuals to play and develop video games on the continent.
“We want to be involved in the narrative of how gaming spreads throughout Africa as a popular form of expression and entertainment, as well as how the continent serves as a hub for innovation and creativity for the global gaming industry,” he declared.