Sony Bets Big On Africa's $1 Billion Gaming Industry With Carry1st Partnership
Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY) is expanding its gaming footprint by investing in an African gaming startup, Carry1st.
What Happened: Sony, the maker of the popular PlayStation gaming console, has made an undisclosed investment in Carry1st, a gaming studio based in Cape Town, South Africa, reported CNBC on Monday. The investment is through Sony’s venture arm, the Sony Innovation Fund.
The investment is a strategic move that will see the two companies collaborating on various commercial opportunities. The partnership is currently in its early stages.
Carry1st’s CEO and co-founder, Cordel Robbin-Coker, pitched Africa to Sony as the next major gaming market. He highlighted the increasing console adoption in countries like Nigeria, Morocco, and Algeria.
According to research from Carry1st and venture capital firm Konvoy, the African gaming industry is expected to surpass $1 billion in 2024. Many African gamers purchase consoles from “gray” markets, where vendors import and resell consoles locally.
Carry1st’s partnership with Sony aims to help the gaming giant expand PlayStation’s presence in Africa. Robbin-Coker emphasized the potential of Africa’s gaming market and the changing console business model, which is shifting towards digital downloads and in-app purchases.
Carry1st, founded in 2018, specializes in developing social and casual puzzle-based mobile games for an African audience. The company is now planning to develop its own original titles, with three new games currently in development.
Why It Matters: Sony’s investment in Carry1st is a significant move in the context of the company’s broader gaming strategy. In a recent interview, Sony’s CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, emphasized the expansion of PlayStation’s gaming experiences to PC, mobile, and cloud, while reaffirming PlayStation’s centrality. This investment in an African gaming startup aligns with Sony’s vision of expanding its gaming presence across various platforms.
Moreover, this investment comes at a time when the African gaming market is gaining increasing attention from global gaming companies. In 2023, the Competition Commission of South Africa approved Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) acquisition of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), a move that raised concerns about the potential exclusivity of popular game franchises like Call of Duty to Xbox.
Image by Sundry Photography via Shutterstock
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