Sony has invested an undisclosed amount in Carry1st, a video game studio from South Africa. This investment comes from Sony’s efforts to bolster PlayStation’s lineup through games coming from the African region and is part of its Sony Innovation Fund: Africa established in October 2023.
CNBC reported the partnership between Sony and Carry1st which is in its “exploratory stages” at the moment. Cordel Robbin-Coker, CEO and co-founder of Carry1st, revealed that he pitched Africa as the next big market for PlayStation, some months ago. He also said that there is an “incredibly underrated console opportunity in Africa.”
The co-founder told CNBC, “As large companies like Sony that have really strong footholds in tier-one and tier-two markets start thinking about where the next billion customers and gamers are going to come from, our pitch is that Africa is a prime market for that.”
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Carry1st and venture capital firm Konvoy’s research also backs this up as Sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming industry is on its way to generating over $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2024. Gamers in Africa can utilise Carry1st’s localized payment service Pay1st to buy games through local payment methods, which can further aid the growth of the sector.
Currently, Carry1st serves as a support studio to other giants such as Activision and Riot Games to bring titles such as Call of Duty Mobile and Valorant to the African region. They are now planning to develop their original games and are working on three titles. The first of those titles will be released in 2024, as per Robbin-Coker.
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