This week the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct will launch a new space in the form of its Gaming Incubation Hub.
The organisation notes that gaming is one of the most exciting industries in South Africa, with several startups springing up locally on the back of ever-increasing growth. As such the new Gaming Incubation Hub, which will be officially unveiled on 1st July, will look to offer those interested in growing their skills and gaining access to support or investment the avenues to do so.
“The video game industry has seen a high growth globally in recent years, but South Africa has not yet benefited significantly from this opportunity. The research that Tshimologong Precinct has conducted over the past year has, however, provided a clear indication of how all the relevant actors can make their contribution to making the system work for existing and emergent talent in our country,” highlighted Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct CEO, Lesley Donna Williams, in a press release sent to Hypertext.
“The launch of the gaming incubation programme is the first key action from the research to growing SME studios in demonstrating the way forward from our partners Telkom, AFD, IFAS and Wits University. This emergent sector is expected to contribute to economic growth and add our unique voice to the global industry,” she adds.
The incubation programme, which will run for nine months, will provide customised support and a series of workshops focusing on business fundamentals, entrepreneurship and developing industry related soft skills, according to the Hub’s facilitators.
The organisation has also looked to leverage the expertise of industry partners to bring this Hub to fruition. To that end, it has partnered with ITTHYNK to roll out of the Incubation programme. The company, which specialises in developing and commercialising African gaming IP, will provide technical support to the start-ups through trainers, mentors, and strategic partners.
The Incubation Hub has also earmarked some of the first SMEs to benefit from this programme, with winners from the Gaming Hackathon that took place during the 2021 Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival among those chosen.
Those winners are:
- “Atrybute Graphics Ptd (Lty) is a group of 9 Game Design, Engineering and Art graduates who deliver different kinds of gaming products such as 2D games, 3D games, gamification, prototypes, game assets, and animations amongst others.
- Skinnyboy is a future based tech development company founded by Thabile Maganyane, a programmer/coder and creative developer, Thapzar Nkwana. Their main goal is to create games and educate upcoming prospects about the worlds of video game development, animation, multimedia and 4IR technologies.
- Southgame Studio is a female led gaming company co-founded by three young women, Avuzwa Ntshongana, Nkateko Nompumelelo Kubayi and Tenyeko Mosikili. Their expertise is in the creation of video games, they also offer services to third parties such as web development & animation.”
More details around the Gaming Incubation Hub is set to be shared later this week on 1st July.
