Yes! You read that right.

Fun games and monetization aren’t enough to foster Web3 gaming in Africa.

It seems to make sense that people would want to play a game due to how fun it is, but that’s not the case.

Furthermore, the concept of monetization of Web3 games is now increasingly pronounced in the form of play-to-earn games.

Now all of those should serve as a strong motivation for more people to engage in fun games right? Who wouldn’t want to earn whilst still having fun?

However, according to a report by Newzoo in 2022; about 15% of Africa’s population plays video games, which is lower than the global average of 27%.

Now what are the stats for Web3 gaming? A recent report shows that only 12% of gamers in Africa are familiar with the concept of Web3 gaming, compared to 17% of gamers familiar with it globally. So what’s the reason for this 5% gap?

These stats show that there’s an opportunity for growth in the African Web3 gaming community. There’s already some amount of adoption, so it can get better. Nonetheless, it also proves that we already know how to make fun games and simply adding blockchain technology by tokenizing such games as the case is now, isn’t enough to foster adoption in the African setting.

Thus, my theory remains that if Web3 gaming is to be embraced more in Africa, creating fun games wouldn’t be enough to bring this to reality. There’s so much more work that needs to be done if massive adoption is to happen.

With companies like Carry1st, a South African-based game developer already venturing into creating Web3 games, it shows that the concept of Web3 gaming is important for the African community.

They announced that they raised $27 million in January this year to develop Web3 games and other products. They already have the ‘fun’ factor and the stats have shown that it’s not enough. So what else can be done?

Let’s begin this ‘argument’ by exploring a bit into the world of Web3 gaming for those who haven’t been living in the proverbial Web3 rabbit hole for the past year.

Background into the World of Web3 Gaming

Web3 gaming is a new trend in the gaming industry. Unlike the regular games you’d play, Web3 games take it a notch further by using Blockchain technology to create more engaging experiences for players.

Gaming in the Web3 system features decentralization- a single person doesn’t control games, thus players have more control of their assets; transparency- players are treated fairly as all transactions are recorded on the blockchain; ownership- players own the assets used in the game, thus they can trade with it or sell it to other players; interoperability – assets can be used across different games, thus there’s a link between the different worlds in the gaming ecosystem; play-to-earn mechanism- players are incentivized to play these games and earn from it at the same time via crypto or other forms of rewards.

In the Web2 world, gaming experiences are seemingly based on the workings of the internet. Games are also in the control of a central party. Thus, all game assets, data, etc. are controlled at a central server by the hands of developers or publishers. Some of these Web2 games would include World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Fortnite, etc. So, as a key difference, Web3 games are backed by Blockchain whilst Web2 games are backed by central servers on the internet.

The concept of Web3 games came into the picture as early as 2010. Now, the trend has taken root with hundreds of such games available in the market. Some of the most popular Web3 games include Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, Decentraland, Alien Worlds, etc.

Now that you know a little about the world of blockchain gaming, I’d like to give more substance to what fun and monetization mean as it relates to this article.

Operationalizing the definition of Fun and Monetization

Now, the word ‘fun’ is subjective. Every individual has an idea of what the word would mean to them.

With each experience an individual has, their idea of fun becomes varied. But in gaming, a fun game falls back on the ability to win after overcoming all the obstacles and challenges that come with such games. So, the endpoint at the end is to win.

Monetization is simply just as read- anything attached or linked to money or some asset of value. Games with this feature are mostly termed play-to-earn or play-and-earn games. Don’t think there’s a need to explain that further.

Now that’s out of the way, what is the state of the Web3 gaming scene in Africa currently?

Current State of Web3 Gaming in Africa

Africa possesses one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world. Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and South are some of the countries in Africa serving as pacesetters in developing the assorted number of games available.

Even though Web3 gaming in Africa is still in its early beginning, it has shown signs that there’s an opportunity for more adoption in the number of users as well as in the adoption of cryptocurrency.

Aside from fun, and play-to-earn games, the attention to Web3 games is ever-increasing due to the rise of tech-savvy Africans. More investment in Web3 gaming by gaming companies also has a part to play.

Zebedee Fintech, Carry1st, and Gamic are some of the companies in Africa that are helping to bring more blockchain-powered opportunities to Africa with the aid of gaming.

With all of these, it’s important to explore more ways that can help to improve the growth of Web3 gaming in Africa. As stated earlier in this article, everything it takes to create fun and monetized games is within reach and these African companies are fully capable of bringing it to fruition.

Now what are the other things that can be done to foster more adoption of Web3 games in Africa?

Better Ways to Foster Adoption for Web3 Gaming in Africa

The majority of the fun games in the Web3 economy come with narratives like play-to-earn, play-and-earn, or something similar as its mechanism of action. Yet, there’s seemingly a load of work to be done if more adoption of these games is to happen in Africa.

Let’s explore a few of the ways that could boost the adoption of Web3 gaming in Africa:

Game Mechanics and Tokenomics Should be made more Sustainable

Most of the games being created have little or no room for sustainability. The game mechanics simply revolve around playing the game, having fun, and earning. Yes, that’s great. But it’s not sustainable.

The end goal is to tokenize these games and still make people interested enough to circulate these tokens across the blockchain so that there’ll be value both for the players and the creators. If a game loses its value due to the token attached being valueless as a result of gamers making profits and exchanging it almost immediately, no one would want to engage in such a game but would rather move on to the next best thing.

Thus, this is an opening for gaming companies to be more thoughtful in changing the narrative of play-to-earn or play-and-earn into something more sustainable in the long run.

Gaming Companies should make their Games Open-source and make the Interoperability of Assets Paramount

Africans are not individualistic. The core root of being an African is collectivism which would entail support, contribution, and nurture. If African gaming companies made their code open-source, more people would feel the urge to participate and explore due to the collectivist mindset.

Regarding interoperability, more partnerships with other game companies (not only those present in Africa) will help to ensure the cross-utilization of assets. This would help more people engage with the games released as their game characters would be able to find applications in the different games.

More Efforts should be put in place to Boost Awareness of Web3 games

Many gamers do not know the benefits of blockchain to the gaming process. If more effort is placed into creating awareness about the benefits such games come with, it will certainly serve to create more adoption of the games.

Concerns about the Technology being used and the Trust Factor should be laid to rest by Gaming Companies

The number of games available for play would greatly increase as more Web3 gaming companies come into the picture. Now, the interest in playing such games is there, but many gamers lack trust in Web3 technology. Furthermore, many gamers especially in Africa’s remote areas do not have access to the devices that can enable them to engage with the games.

If the issues with security and trust can be laid to rest, as well as enable improved access to smartphones and technology for Africans, more people will be inclined to engage with the games being introduced.

Conclusion

Creating fun games, and monetizing such games isn’t enough to make more people adopt Web3 gaming technology.

To foster the mass adoption of Web3 gaming in Africa, all of the ways provided in this article to make this come into reality should be adhered to. If you’ve read this far, here’s some advice you should also take into consideration when measuring the success metrics of your game.