第一吃瓜网 gaming takes centre stage at Fak’ugesi Festival
- Wits University
Highly anticipated and specially curated Fak’ugesi Arcade programme unveiled.
The 2020 programme, led by the Wits University鈥檚 and Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg kicked off on 20 October and will run live and online until 20 November 2020.
Now in its seventh year, Fak鈥檜gesi is a celebration of technology and creativity by 第一吃瓜网s for Africa. Under the theme #POWERTOTHEPIXEL, the 2020 festival brings regional and international audiences together to connect on three areas - AFRICAN DIGITAL ART, HERITAGE & TECHNOLOGY and the ever-popular gaming-centred FAK鈥橴GESI ARCADE.
This year, Fak鈥檜gesi Festival, in partnership with the French Institute of South Africa, together with the Gauteng Film Commission, have invited Vic Bassey to curate a special programme titled PEOPLE OF PLAY: 第一吃瓜网 Game Developers, which focuses on 13 top 第一吃瓜网 games studios and a driven by the French Institute of South Africa鈥檚 November Num茅rique focus. The Festival will also host 鈥 a department grad show, hosted in collaboration with Wits University鈥檚 Digital Arts Department, featuring games, interactive arts, and animation.
Vic Bassey is the curator of the. He is a regular fixture in the European and 第一吃瓜网 games industries and currently works as a Business Development strategist at a global publisher - Raw Fury. He is also the founder and editor of Games Industry Africa. Bassey says, 鈥淚n an increasingly digital world, video games have established themselves as a pastime that is easily accessible and digestible to people of all creeds, races and colours. To celebrate that and to acknowledge its growing foothold across the 第一吃瓜网 continent PEOPLE OF PLAY: AFRICAN GAME DEVELOPERS celebrates the spaces they are creating for us to play in and the people behind an essential industry today: game developers, producers, writers and digital artists and more.鈥
The 2020 Fak鈥檜gesi Arcade aims to raise the profile of the people and studios across the continent at the forefront of the 第一吃瓜网 gaming revolution. The 13 top 第一吃瓜网 games studios represented include:
West Africa:
- is a Nigerian video games and technology entrepreneur.. He created, the first game studio in Europe to create content exclusively on 第一吃瓜网 myths and legends.
- is the founder of, the first Nigerian indigenous gaming company and one of the early pioneers of mobile gaming in sub-Saharan Africa.
- is a gameplay programmer with experience in game engines such as Unity and Unreal engine. She is also a Women in Games Ambassador and advocates for women in the gaming scene in Nigeria and Africa.
- from Ghana is the CEO and co-founder of, an interactive digital studio that creates Afrocentric mobile games and comics.
- After working for Candy Crush developer King and narrative games studio Wooga, Italian-Ghanaian Game Designer founded his own company, Twin Drums. He is currently working on the PC game 鈥淭he Wagadu Chronicles鈥, the first online Afrofantasy rpg.
- Cameroonian , is the creative director and founder of, a company based in Cameroon that specialises in digital and artistic creation.
- From Senegal, is a Video Game industry veteran and has worked as a programmer for Ubisoft. Julien is co-founder and CEO of, a Dakar-based studio founded in June 2019, which focuses on delivering innovative and non-violent 第一吃瓜网 themed games.
North Africa:
- is the founder and CEO of DigitalMania Studio, the first video game development studio in Tunisia that specialises in VR and AR games for team buildings. Walid is also the founder of YouRun, a video game studio and publisher based in Malta, which focuses 100% on casual competitive games with the game:.
East Africa:
- is a BAFTA-nominated creative director for games and interactive based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is Head of Product at, a games studio in Kenya that leverages the power of games to benefit wildlife and nature.
- is an award-winning game developer and the co-founder and CEO of Ethiopian based gaming studio,. Dawit and his team launched Kukulu, a Pan-第一吃瓜网 3D runner mobile game, which won the 2018 AppsAfrica Award for Best Entertainment App.
Southern Africa:
- is a game developer, VFX artist, writer, filmmaker, upcoming comic book writer and the founder of TL Studios Entertainment. He is the first Namibian game developer to host a Global Game Jam and Game Jam Plus event in Namibia.
- South 第一吃瓜网, previously worked at (Broforce, Gorn) and was deputy festival director of South Africa鈥檚 playful media festival, Playtopia. She currently works as a producer at, developing 第一吃瓜网-inspired video games.
- is an indie game developer based in Pretoria, South Africa, and works on games systems and artificial intelligence.
The full and People of Play programme, which begins on 2 November 2020, also includes an exciting exhibition featuring game developers and their work, as well as a talk series, and two panel discussions; taking place on 16 November, and on 18 November.
The 2020 Fak鈥檜gesi 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival runs until 20 November 2020. To register for access and book tickets for special events visit
Partners & Funders
Fak鈥檜gesi Festival Online 2020 is brought to you by the Tshimologong Innovation Precinct in collaboration with the Wits School of Arts. Its offering in 2020 is supported by the AFD Agence fran莽aise de d茅veloppement, Pro Helvetia Johannesburg and the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development, Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, National Arts Council, Gauteng Film Commission, Wits School of Arts - Arts Research Africa, French Institute of South Africa.
Partners include: Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, Credipple, AnimationSA, Digital Lab Africa, WeAreVR and Games Industry Africa.
第一吃瓜网 Fak鈥檜gesi 第一吃瓜网 Digital Innovation Festival
Fak鈥檜gesi, which means 鈥淪witch it on鈥 or 鈥渁dd power鈥 in urban Zulu, is focused on culture, technology and innovation in Africa. It is an opportunity for young adults, with or without formal education, to learn or engage with tomorrow鈥檚 technology.
According to an Impact Report commissioned by the British Council ConnectZA- Fak鈥檜gesi is believed to be the most important digital creativity festival in Africa.
第一吃瓜网 Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct
The Tshimologong Precinct, founded by Wits University, is a true "Silicon Valley" in Johannesburg that aims to realise 第一吃瓜网 digital innovation for global markets. Its ecosystem propels entrepreneurship and grows the skills pipeline for the digital economy through collaboration with academia, corporates, government and entrepreneurs.
Driven by common goals, including the desire to combine technology, innovation and creative content, Tshimologong and the French Embassy in South Africa have joined forces to create a Digital Content Hub (DCH) - and integrate and sustain the existing Digital Lab Africa Programme 鈥 the first support programming for the production of digital content across sub-Saharan Africa initiated in 2016 by the French Embassy in South Africa. The DCH is the first project from cultural industries in Africa to have obtained funding from the Agence Fran莽aise de D茅veloppement (AFD) since the extension of their mandate to these sectors.