Movies, animation, gaming and tech. Want to know what’s happening in Africa and beyond? Here’s the Run Down for this week.
NEWS OUT OF AFRICA – Gaming/Tech
Joinplay Games Are On a Roll, and We Don’t Mean Bread
Late last year, indie studio, Joinplay Games was awarded the Humble Bundle Black Game Developers Fund to aid in the development of a prototype for their 3D Afro fantasy, Role Playing game Amma: Chronicles of Lost Stars.
Now, less than a month from receiving that award, Joinplay have started the new year on a roll by seizing another grant to help develop their game.
Joinplay Games Receive an Epic Megagrant
This January, Joinplay Games have received an Epic Megagrant from Epic Games $100 million programme to continue developing their game Amma: Chronicles of Lost Stars.
Whilst expressing his excitement at receiving the Megagrant, Joinplay Games CEO, Michel Nkuindja, also offered advice to those developing their own games, stating that focusing on what makes your game unique, preparing a build of your game and providing a detailed pitch are key steps to securing funding for your project.
Congratulations to Joinplay! And hopefully it won’t be long until we see their Afro-fantasy game brought to life.
Check out more https://gamesindustryafrica.com/2021/01/12/amma-chronicles-of-lost-stars-secures-epic-megagrant/
The Latest Update from Outliver: Tribulation
After releasing an updated demo of their third person survival game, Outliver: Tribulation, last year, Nigerian based game developing company, Grbossoft, announced a postponement of the game’s release date and focused on polishing up the game play and structure.
Almost twelve months have passed since then and Grbossoft have pushed back their release date again but progress has been made with regards to their game. Pre-alpha gameplay footage has been released showing a redesigned protagonist and some new characters.
Check out the footagehttps://youtu.be/5thLMXp9V-M
However, work on Outliver: Tribulation is still in progress and an official release date is yet to be set.
check out more https://gamesindustryafrica.com/2021/01/15/new-developer-update-from-outliver-tribulation/
NEWS BEYOND AFRICA – Animation/Movies
Baobab Studios’ Premier a Brand New Immersive VR Film
This January, Baobab Studios hosted a premier of their brand new VR film, Baba Yaga, a modern retelling of the Eastern European fable.
The film boasts an award winning, all female cast featuring stars like Daisy Ridley, Kate Winslet and Jennifer Hudson and explores themes of female empowerment and environmentalism. But that is not all that makes this new VR film so unique.
In creating Baba Yaga, Baobab Studios made use of a variety of animation styles including stop motion, 2D pop up animation and blended aspects of interactivity, AI, animation, theatre and cinema into the VR experience to bring the film to life and truly immerse viewers in the adventure.
A Bit About Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga follows the story of a girl name Sacha, who is heir to the village throne. When her mother, the village chief, falls dangerously ill, Sacha and her younger sister, Magda must venture into the forbidden enchanted forest and obtain a cure from Baba Yaga.
As the viewer, you are immersed into this fairytale world by taking on the role of Sacha, it is then up to you to make decisions that could determine how the story ends.
Baba Yaga is available to view on Oculus Quest.
check out morehttps://www.awn.com/news/baobab-studios-baba-yaga-now-available-oculus-quest