Kiro'o Games' lofty ambitions for the African games market

From its historic launch of Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan for PC to becoming the first Africa-based studio to release a game on Xbox, Kiro'o Games is one of the leading studios in the region. 

Ahead of the launch of its latest project, Elites of Mboa, we sat down with Kiro’o Games’ founder and CEO Madiba Guillaume Olivier, to discuss its upcoming mobile game, $1 million funding goal, the importance of cultural relevance and the team's vision for the future of games in Africa.

Company structure and size

Kiro'o Games is a veteran African game studio based in Cameroon with over 12 years of experience and global recognition for its narrative-driven design. The team made history with Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan, which later evolved into a cross-media universe spanning graphic novels, mobile, and PC. 

In 2024, the company became the first Africa-based studio to launch a game on Xbox, and also pioneered seamless mobile money payments for games on the continent. Now, the studio is developing a multiplayer social parody game aimed at bringing laughter to Africa's 170m players.

Kiro'o Games currently operates with a lean core team of 15, supported by a local talent pool of over 40 trained former employees now working as freelancers. 

“Ten years ago it was very hard to recruit but today, there are more talents in the freelance/outsourcing pool thanks to the content creator ecosystem,” says Madiba. “You find more young people doing animation and even coding ambitious projects on their own that you can canalise.”

Game development strategy

Madiba states the company has adopted a cross-media strategy to build deeper brand loyalty, allowing fans to experience its IPs across PC, console, mobile, books, and potentially film and series. 

While the team's early focus was on RPGs, the studio now prioritises market research to identify trends and underserved niches. It recognises mobile, especially Android, as the most scalable platform in Africa, while iOS presents higher marketing challenges but greater potential rewards. 

“For example, we have a real market study to do before doing Aurion 2 on console and PC,” says Madiba. “The JRPG era we knew as kids is over, so we have to really study what players want today in the action-RPG sphere and how to reposition ourselves.”

In terms of prioritising resources with a small team, Kiro’o Games uses a "hack" approach by recycling existing materials. For example, the studio created a graphic novel based on its game’s pre-written story and used assets from the PC game to develop early prototypes for its mobile games.

Developing Elites of Mboa

The company has spent three years studying African social and psychological behaviours, discovering that everyday conversations often revolve around family, relationships, and politics. The team found that the most popular content across the continent includes humorous takes on love, work, and the tension between tradition and modern life. 

Madiba says they built early game prototypes, which were well-received but lacked emotional depth. 

“Our first concept was a simple 'work simulation' game inspired by 'Papers, Please', where players responded to requests at their desk. It was funny, but players said: ‘I want to use the money I earn, build my life, have a family’,” explains Madiba.

“That’s when we realised that African players don’t just want a Sims-style working simulator. They crave organic storytelling centred on real human relationships.”

Demo release and cultural challenges 

After a limited demo launch in 2020, the game saw organic growth through word of mouth, reaching 85,000 downloads (55,000 organic) with ads bringing an additional 35,000. Key markets include Cameroon with 25,000 downloads (15,000 organic), Ivory Coast with 12,000 (entirely organic), and France with 12,000 (5,000 organic).

The remaining 36,000 downloads are spread across other African countries, as well as Germany and the US, driven by community sharing.

Although initially concerned about the game's cultural specificity, Kiro’o Games felt its themes had universal appeal, blending elements of Desperate Housewives and The Office in a way that resonated globally. 

“We had great feedback from players in Germany, and even Saudi Arabia at some point, who told us they laughed a lot," Madiba claims.

"One Indian player told me he played nonstop for three hours to finish the demo."

He continues: “Yes, there is some pure local folklore, but at the end of the day, most of us humans have the same problems in our workplace and family.

“For the English localisation, we tried to make the game look more 'Nigerian' as we know the American audience is more and more exposed to Nigerian content too.”

Finding funding

Over the past 12 years the company has struggled to secure funding from traditional institutional investors, often facing rejection with reasons like "too early" or "not enough". Instead, it relied on equity crowdfunding, raising $900k from 800 micro-investors, primarily young Africans. 

“Recently, we have found business angels in the US and India believing in us. And things are changing step by step,” says Madiba. “

You have big players like Sony Fund coming into Africa, and you have Xbox supporting studios including ours, as one of the first. Also, most studios are very bonded, we support each other despite some competition.”

The company is now raising $1m, intending to generate $5m in profits within three years. Early discussions with Xbox show interest in future sequels of its African Fantasy RPG, and movie and animation studios are also eyeing up the IP.

Building a community

With the African games market projected to more than double by 2030, Kiro’o Games aims to build a community of 60m players across Africa and has lofty ambitions to eventually generate $100m annually, tapping into the continent’s projected $3.71 billion games market. 

The studio sees Africa as a unique opportunity, where many players are still experiencing their first real connection to video games. Capturing that “first-time” emotional impact is key to long-term brand loyalty. 

“We still have the opportunity to be the 'first time' for a lot of gamers. I have seen it, when someone aged 25+ can tell you ‘I never played a game so much’,” states Madiba.

“No one forgets his/her first good time, it’s this branding spot we can still get in the African mobile landscape.”

Based on Kiro'o Games' insights, the titles most likely to succeed in this space are socially driven, relaxing, and humorous multiplayer experiences, as well as mobile esports titles that offer real-life prizes and tangible rewards.

Moreover, the company believes the key to success is creating games that African adults can enjoy and afford. 

“In many African countries, people enter the workforce quite late," explains Madiba.

"Most get their first stable job after age 25, or even after 30. And adults born in the '80s and '90s often don’t connect with mainstream game references like ninjas, war zones, or medieval fantasy.

“So the real opportunity lies in creating relaxing, social games rooted in our everyday realities, that people can play and laugh through together.”

For now, Kiro’o Games is currently focusing all its efforts on funding and completing Elites of Mboa, believing it has the potential to be the studio's first major hit, catalysing everything the team has worked on over the past 12 years.