Maliyo Games' GameUp Africa has trained 6,000 devs in five years
| Date | Type | Companies Involved | Key Datapoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2026 | report | Maliyo Games | 161 games published across fiv |
- GameUp has had more than 6,000 applicants from over 40 countries since 2021.
- Female participation grew from 16% to 25% between 2021 and 2025.
- GameUp Africa is partnering with Arizona State University to issue accredited micro-credentials to graduates.
Maliyo Games' GameUp Africa has trained more than 6,000 aspiring game developers across 40 countries since its launch in 2021.
That's according to a new five-year impact report published by the Lagos-based studio, which showed that Nigeria and Kenya account for the largest share of participants at 36% and 28% respectively. Ivory Coast, Angola and Rwanda were identified as growing markets.
Over five years, around 77% of applicants have been under 30, while 84% have come from software development or engineering backgrounds.
Across five cohorts, GameUp Africa produced 161 published game projects with mentorship drawn from more than 30 global companies, including Xbox, EA, Disney Games and IGDA. The 2024 cohort saw 246 accepted learners, of which 99 reached the mentorship stage and 51 published games on Itch.io.
From bootcamp to always-on platform
In 2025, the programme launched Elite, a 12-week externship placing top alumni inside a live studio environment working on real titles. Three games from the cohort are now live in Safari City, Maliyo's mobile title.
Female participation grew from around 16% in the programme's early years to 25% by 2025. There have been over 1,000 female applications in total.
Looking ahead, Maliyo said GameUp Africa is transitioning from a seasonal cohort model to an always-on learning platform, with campus-embedded physical hubs, an AI-integrated curriculum, and a partnership with Arizona State University to issue accredited micro-credentials to graduates.
You can access the full report here.
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