Oscar Michael: Games Industry is Bigger Than Movie and Music Industry Combined Globally

It is exciting to learn of a creative enterprise with the potential income that knocks music and movies over. That is one of the discoveries from the encounter between the GAMING WEEK TEAM and Oscar Michael Esio, Founder of Africomicade, a gaming concern, with which he hopes to make a positive statement across Africa

Can you take us through the defining moments when you became known as a gamer /and a professional in the gaming industry?

That would be as far back as 2015/2016. That would be when I was working at the Centre for Tech. That’s an organisation that focuses on training children and youth in STEM skills. So we used to teach them game design, animation and so much more, and that’s really where my career started. 

In Lagos?

Yes, Lagos, Nigeria, at Ogba, Ikeja. So, I started out as a games facilitator, so I used to teach people how to build games using construct and unity, but then very quickly moved on to become Head of Operations where I was managing events, organising events, building programmes, educational programmes as well, as well as hosting Africacomicade And that’s really where my career started.

What would you say was the game that really sustained your interest in planning Africacomicade?

I wouldn’t really say it’s a game that made me start Africacomicade. It’s all about business sustainability for me. The games industry out there is bigger than the movie and music industry combined globally. But in Africa, that’s not the case. A news report in 2021 states the African games industry is $580 million. But how many per cent of African game studios are getting up to that amount? Not up to one per cent. So for me what’s really driving me is the need to ensure that African creatives benefit from this market. The industry is huge. The opportunities are there, but their ability to grow a business is very slim for African creatives. And that’s what’s striking.

Would you say then that you are inching closer to this vision of yours?

Yes, definitely. Day by day, with every activity we do, with every event and all, we’ve been able to achieve some amount of success. We track our activities. We do our evaluations yearly. And over the years, we’ve not just been able to bring some impact. We’ve seen progressive growth, and that’s really exciting. 

What are some of the things in your estimation that drive the passion of the gaming community in Nigeria today?

The passion is undoubtedly there. Nigerians are gamers, contrary to what the world thinks. Globally, most people wonder if there are gamers in Nigeria. Most people have a very limited idea of what Africa really is on the ground. So we have gamers and then we have game developers. Both have passion, but what is lacking is a means to convert that passion into something you can say you have a career in. And that’s what’s available out there that is not here. So right now, passion is still the main driving force. Year in, year out, we’re getting closer to seeing more people say that they have a career in the video games industry.

Can you put a figure on that number of people?

In Nigeria, currently, I could say like genuine interest and people striving, I could put the figure at 200. Although it still looks like a small number. I don’t want to be over-ambitious, right? And if I look across Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa especially, I would say about 500 people. Once more let’s not forget, year in, year out, this is a collective number because some years cannot be 500 or 1,000. But the number of people that are able to stay on the path falls yearly, because as you know the economy in Africa is not the best right now even globally, so people have to find a means to sustain their life.

Was it ambition that drove you to make Africacomicade a continental thing instead of just Nigeria?

A lot of people say it’s ambitious. How do they say it? Go big or go home, right? So the reason why we focus across Africa is the market size in terms of stakeholders in Africa is still very small. It’s a growing industry. So if you want to focus on Nigeria, which is actually still good, you have a very limited number of people to work with. And let’s not forget there is competition and other things in place. However, on the development side, when you look across Africa, our problems are very much similar. So what that means is to create a stronger front, especially when you look at the fact that out there in the West and the East, people consider Africa as a country, not a continent. Most people think of Africa as just one place, whereas that’s not the case. But seeing that we have similar problems, the entire idea was to get like-minded people and bring them together and see how we can collaboratively tackle this issue. Create more presence for Africa, connect more creative opportunities from Africa and with remote culture right now. Why limit yourself, really?

In tackling these issues, has it been a smooth sail, or did you overcome some obstacles?

Definitely not smooth. It’s been a very bumpy ride. However, it’s been fun and fulfilling along the way. One of the biggest challenges is education, and you come to realise that within the industry, there’s a lot of education that needs to be done. The stakeholders need to learn more about business, need to learn more about monetizing your skills, need to learn more about collaboration, outside the games industry, the stakeholders need to be educated. We need to tell people that in the video games industry, there is the gaming side and there’s the development side. And even on the development side, we don’t all have to be programmers, we need marketers, we need people in communication. We need project managers, financiers. So there’s a whole lot of work to be done. And I think that’s why the Pan African approach is also good because some areas have more strength than others. Like in Nigeria, you have lots of game developers. You have people that are also good in communication and all. If you go to Kenya, you have people good in organising stuff, networking, stuff like that. So that’s really why we basically said let’s bring these people together and see how we can do something much bigger. But I would say other challenges are mainly things common to other growing industries. You want to speak of finances right now. There’s no industry that doesn’t have issues with finances. But one of the biggest issues is the education part. Making people aware this industry exists, making them understand what the industry is about, making them understand how to set up a structure, a sustainable structure for the industry.

Are there some of the myths about the gaming industry that you would like to debunk?

Ah, number one, there’s a difference between gaming and game development. They are totally different. Number two. Yes, it’s beyond passion. Like almost everybody getting into this space because of passion but at some point you have to realise you need something flowing into sustaining. So as nice as this feels, we throw around $500 million worth of the industry, monetising in this industry is very difficult. Building a good game is far more difficult. So you need to go in and know what you are investing in.

What are some of the skills you would say have sustained you throughout this gaming career?

Passion, I would say, is great. And I think that’s common to almost all entrepreneurs. If you really want to succeed you have to have the spirit and confidence. At home, nobody basically understands what I’m doing. I mean, we come from a culture where gaming is seen as something bad for the child, especially amongst millennials. You see a lot of people laughing. You see parents say don’t play games, but that is changing right now. So you need that grit to know that this is what you want to do, and despite all the challenges coming because there are many, you need that grit to keep on forging ahead.

We’d like to get your thoughts on Web3 gaming. What will drive the game developers and gamers into that web generation?

Okay, so when you look at the Web 3 space currently, for a lot of people there’s still a lot of pause basically. And that’s because things are not yet levelled. There’s still a lot more experimentation. And what is really driving it in Africa and across the world is the opportunity to make money really. Most people are not really concerned about the technology. And the reason why Web 3 gaming gained a lot of traction so quickly is because of the idea of play-to-earn. I mean, traditionally, when you play games you pay to play the games. But now Web3 is giving the opportunity for you to pay to play the game and then make money while playing. That’s what’s really exciting for most gamers, but from the games industry perspective, most people are not for it, because it takes away the focus from play, like designing games that are fun to actually now trying to create some kind of money-making mechanism which is very similar to betting for most people. Looking at that, well, you look around you in Africa, more people are concerned about money. That makes money the focus. We’ll see how that goes. But for now, it’s still an industry space where people are trying to level.

How do you retain your creative edge?

It’s a lot of work, a lot of crying in the bathroom, a lot of screaming and a lot of going back to the board to realign, because over the years we’ve had to re-strategize. We’ve got to say that this is not a straight path. We’re working in an industry where there is no framework and there is no book. There are barely mentors you can go to and say I want to make it and somebody tells you this is how you make your first 1 million Naira or $1 billion. So we’re figuring out everything along the way. And that’s why the power of community is very great because like I said, everyone in the community has their strengths. There are those that are developers. There are those that have networks. So we discuss with one another, we are in trades. That’s really what has kept me going and know that I’m not alone. 

QUOTE

A news report in 2021 states the African games industry is $580 million. But how many percent of African game studios are getting up to that amount? Not up to one per cent. So for me what’s really driving me is the need to ensure that African creatives benefit from this market. The industry is huge. The opportunities are there, but their ability to grow a business is very slim for African creatives. And that’s what’s striking.