Is the African gaming industry finally being recognised for its potential?
Is the African gaming industry finally being recognised for its potential?
An opportunity for gamers all over the African continent to finally take the steps to compete on a level playing field.
Last night I was sent a post that has shocked so many of us in the Ghanaian and Nigerian gaming sphere – to be honest, all of the gamers in West Africa seem to be reeling at the news. Electronic Arts (EA) has allegedly put servers in Nigeria (Source: https://lnkd.in/e5QaagYm). This news will be life-changing for gamers and game developers everywhere.
For the non-gamers out here. Let me explain what a server in West Africa means.
To play an online, you need a connection to a sever. Popular games such as FIFA / Apex / Overwatch / COD/ Valorant / League of Legends. These all require a link to a server – on the African continent, there is only 1 server and that does not serve all the games I mentioned. This server is in South Africa. So players in Ghana link to the server in London, which is the closest, meaning their ping is very high. A high ping means lag – lag means pressing the X button or clicking space and a few seconds later, the character responds. Seconds in a game is crucial, and when you’re playing competitively, this could be the difference between winning and losing.
It would mean that the African gaming community is finally receiving the recognition for these gaming companies that is has long since deserved.
If EA has done this then kudos to them and we await with a near enough breathless anticipation for this news to be confirmed and throw the gauntlet down to the other gaming companies out there.
I am Annabel or creativelyanzy as I’m known online! I am the founder of Melanin Gamers: a gaming community that promotes diversity and inclusivity in the video games industry, with a special focus on content creators; whiles also providing a safe space for people of colour to come together and game
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