Africa's video game industry is emerging as a promising force in the global market, fueled by a young and increasingly connected population. With the continent's population expected to reach about 2.5 billion by 2050, according to United Nations forecasts, the African video game market is projected to grow significantly. Mordor Intelligence estimates the market at $2.29 billion in 2026, with an average annual growth rate of 12.3%. Mobile gaming dominates, contributing nearly 90% of the sector's revenue, with around 350 million players across the continent, over 300 million of whom use smartphones as their primary platform. South Africa has played a key role in shaping the African video game industry since the 1990s, when the first local studios began to emerge. Celestial Games, founded in 1994, developed Toxic Bunny, one of the earliest commercial video games from the continent. More recently, South Africa has gained international recognition through Broforce, a 2D action game developed by the Cape Town-based studio Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital. Released in 2015, Broforce achieved global success, selling millions of copies worldwide. Ben Myres, co-founder of Nyamakop, a Johannesburg-based studio, highlights the challenges of creating video games in Africa, noting that while the talent pool is still limited, it is growing. He emphasizes that studios, publishers, and platforms are beginning to pay closer attention to the continent, which has the potential to become a major market in the coming decades. Morocco is also positioning itself as a rising player in the African gaming ecosystem. The country aims to become a hub for the gaming industry in Africa and the broader MENA region by 2030. Morocco's goal extends beyond being a consumer market; it seeks to establish itself as a center for game creation, production, training, and investment. The country aspires to capture 1% of the global video game market by 2030, which would represent over $3 billion in revenue, based on economic projections. To support this ambition, Morocco plans to train 10,000 young people in the video game industry by 2030. Nissrine Souissi, director of development for the gaming industry and information systems at the Ministry of Youth and Culture, points to several advantages: a large and connected youth population, a growing pool of creative and technological talent, a strategic geographical position at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and a digital and institutional environment that is gradually improving. Morocco's efforts were highlighted at Gamescom 2026, where the country launched its first official pavilion, supported by the Ministry of Culture and AMDIE. Eleven Moroccan studios showcased their games to international publishers and investors. Additionally, the third edition of the Morocco Gaming Expo, held in Rabat in May, attracted over 80,000 visitors and investors from 24 countries. According to Ben Myres, the growth of the African video game industry has been steady, and it is only a matter of time before another major successful studio emerges. He estimates that within the next ten to twenty years, an African game developer is likely to generate substantial revenues solely from the local audience.