Google, in partnership with Nigerian mobile game developer, Maliyo Games has announced the launch of a new five-month training programme for gaming developers in Africa to successfully build, scale, launch, and market the next generation of hit mobile games.
The #GameUp Bootcamp targets gaming developers based in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. Who will have an opportunity to work with mentors from Google and the gaming industry?
“Africa as a continent, with over 400 million mobile phone users, represents a massive business opportunity for people who have good creative and technical skills. That is the reason the BootCamp was created. The goal of this partnership with Google is to display Africa’s vibrant culture into video games through storylines, character development, immersive environments, captivating sounds and strong visuals,” says Hugo Obi, founder of Maliyo Games.
“We launched this program because, as a game development studio, we are constantly looking for talented individuals to join our team. And because of a lack of structured educational system that produces competent game developers in Nigeria, we made the decision last year to launch an in-house program that will enable us to train individuals who are interested in becoming game developers,” he added.
The programme, launched on Monday, July 19, 2021 — and closes by August 2, consists of mentorship, training workshops and clinics, and networking sessions. During the Bootcamp session, participants who have been selected will learn to create mobile games for the Google Play store, refine, package, and develop casual Android games using a modern self-paced and project-based learning system.
Those accepted into the programme will go through a virtual training program from August 16 to December 23, 2021, where they will be assessed on three levels of training, themed: Game Development Fundamentals, Succeed on the Play Store, and Publish Your First Game. The successful completion of one level validates moving to the next level.
According to Maliyo Games, the Bootcamp looks for individuals with basic programming knowledge or a computer science background. Furthermore, the company added that the intending applicants must have knowledge of one of the programme languages, all these is to get the best from the participants. Hugo Obi expressed joy on how he felt with this partnership with Google and the opportunity for his game to grow to a higher level.
