GAME ON: mapping Zimbabwe’s gaming ecosystem

GAME ON is a website and social media project led by the TechVillage Trust. The project sets out to create a comprehensive visual map of Zimbabwe’s gaming ecosystem with all local actors and stakeholders. This aims to capture the state of gaming in the country as well as the challenges and key insights that can be used to develop solutions, programs, events, and interventions to promote the sustainability of the gaming ecosystem during and post the Covid-19 pandemic.

Building on the mapping and report, the project will convene an online workshop for game development ecosystem builders to discuss and share insights and recommendations on Esports program design and support systems and in particular the creation of sustainable Esports models that gamers can adopt. GAME ON will also host a public webinar on payment infrastructure for game developers and creators in Zimbabwe. This is especially relevant in the Zimbabwean context as game developers have faced challenges monetising games uploaded to the Google Play store due to the Zimbabwean dollar not being a supported currency on the platform.  The public webinar will cover innovative solutions such as tokenisation and adopting crypto solutions for powering microtransactions.

Most importantly, GAME ON will strive to set up a local Zimbabwean chapter of the International Game Development Association (IDGA) to ensure that collaboration between the mapped ecosystem players as well as game developers continue well after the project. This will also serve as a concrete and formalised platform on which future collaborations between game developers will launch and ultimately stimulate network creation. The project hopes to legitimise Esports as a relevant and opportunity-filled sector for creative youth in Zimbabwe.