According to the analysis commissioned by Carry1st, the African gaming market reached over $1.8 billion in 2024 (representing 12.4% YOY growth vs. 2023), outpacing global gaming growth sixfold (2.1% YOY growth).

Mobile gaming drove this growth, representing nearly 90% ($1.6 billion) of Africa’s $1.8 billion gaming market in 2024. 

Data reveals an estimated 349 million gamers across the African continent, of which 304 million were mobile gamers. The number of gamers grew by 32 million from 317 million in 2023, representing a 10% year-over-year (YoY) increase.

These latest figures mark the first time data released by Carry1st has encompassed the entire African continent rather than being limited to sub-Saharan Africa, as it was in previous years. In 2021, when Carry1st’s analysis focused on sub-Saharan Africa, the number of gamers was estimated at 186 million.

Africa’s Gaming Revolution

Africa’s gaming market is evolving rapidly, emerging as a major force in the global gaming landscape. In 2023, Newzoo and Carry1st projected that sub-Saharan Africa’s gaming market would reach $1 billion by 2024. 

This growth highlights Africa’s evolution from an emerging market to a major player in the global gaming industry. With widespread mobile adoption, increasing internet access, and innovative payment solutions driving expansion, Africa’s gaming market continues to grow. As global markets see slower growth, Africa’s rapid growth underlines the market’s enormous potential.

Key findings:

• The number of gamers in Africa increased by 32 million in 2024, from 317 million to 349 million, representing a 10% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
  • Mobile gamers made up 87% of the total player base, with 304 million playing on mobile.
• Africa’s gaming market grew six times faster than the global average, with global growth sitting at just 2.1% YoY in 2024
• The African gaming market grew from $1.6 billion in 2023 to $1.8 billion in 2024, representing a 12.4% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
  • Mobile gaming continues to dominate, accounting for $1.6 billion of the total $1.8 billion market, with a 14% YoY increase

• Closely examining countries in the region based on forecasts for 2024, the data reveals:
  • Egypt led with $368 million in revenue, followed by Nigeria ($300 million) and South Africa ($278 million).
  • Eritrea and Niger were the fastest-growing countries in gaming revenue, while Equatorial Guinea and Seychelles were the slowest-growing.

Carry1st CEO and Co-founder Cordel Robbin-Coker comments,  “Building on our previous collaborations with Newzoo, this new data illuminates the explosive growth of Africa’s gaming market. The dominance of mobile gaming, making up nearly 90% of the market, highlights the distinct path Africa is taking — leapfrogging traditional platforms. With such growth in players and spending, it’s clear that Africa is one of the few places to find secular growth in an industry that is otherwise showing signs of maturity.”

Michiel Buijsman, Principal Games Market Analyst at Newzoo, adds, “Africa’s gaming sector is growing rapidly and outpacing global trends, which signals that the continent is catching up and its growth cannot be overlooked. With a fast-growing mobile online population and 90% of its $1.8 billion market coming from mobile gaming, it’s clear where growth opportunities can be found.”

Following qualifying rounds, the surviving teams will gather in-person for a dramatic final showdown. The tournament will also award $1,000 to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the grand finals, with MVP prizes available across all regional matches.

Africa’s esports scene is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the continent’s growing young population. With over 60% of Africans aged under 25, there is immense appetite for and rising participation in competitive gaming, especially on mobile devices.

As smartphones become more prevalent, the need for expensive hardware and high-speed internet to compete at the highest levels is fading away.

To meet this growing demand, the ecosystem is evolving to provide gamers with an elevated experience. Carry1st, which develops, licences, publishes and monetizes games on the continent, recently partnered with Call of Duty: Mobile to deploy dedicated servers in Nigeria and South Africa for this growing community.

The Carry1st Africa Cup signals the bright future of esports in Africa, amidst the backdrop of a burgeoning gaming market expected to surpass $1 billion this year. 

Carry1st CEO and Co-Founder Cordel Robbin-Coker comments, “Carry1st Africa Cup is a realization of our vision of uniting the continent’s gamers and reflects our broader mission to enhance gaming experiences in Africa. We’re excited to bring together Call of Duty: Mobile teams from major gaming hubs like Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. We’re proud to play our part in this booming esports ecosystem that will only continue to grow across the continent.”

“Having laid the groundwork with the successful launch of COD:M servers in Nigeria and South Africa, we are excited to take the next step by bringing competitive gaming to the forefront. The Cup is set to be an exhilarating celebration of African gaming talent, and we can’t wait to witness the action unfold,” adds Guillaume Noé, VP of Growth at Carry1st.

In addition to the fierce competition on the virtual battlefield, participants can also look forward to yet-to-be-announced performances from the continent’s biggest musical artists and a hub of gaming entertainment for fans.

How to Enter 

Registration for the Carry1st Africa Cup will open on Monday 27th May via the Carry1st website.

Teams must consist of a minimum of 5 players, and the competition is open to amateur and professional gamers alike. Participants from across the continent will compete using Call of Duty: Mobile’s multiplayer functionality.

Upon registration, players will receive special lobby codes for their matches, granting them access to exclusive gaming lobbies where they will face off against other teams to compete for a spot in the finals and to win the Cup.

The qualification stages are expected to run throughout June and July, which will culminate in the tournament’s finals, set to take place in August 2024, with regional champions taking part.

Carry1st will support any travel arrangements for teams unable to travel for the finals, ensuring that all qualifying teams can participate.

This news comes after leaks regarding the specifications of PS5 Pro surfaced online.

Per The Verge, a comprehensive list of the upcoming console’s specs, reveals improvements focused on enhancing ray tracing capabilities. Developers are already being prepped to ensure their games are compatible with the PS5 Pro, with a particular emphasis on improved ray tracing performance.

PS5 Pro Promises Enhanced Performance

The PS5 Pro comes with a more powerful GPU and a slightly faster CPU mode compared to the standard PS5. These changes translate to a console more adept at rendering games with ray tracing enabled, potentially achieving higher resolutions and frame rates. 

Sony seems to be encouraging developers to leverage ray tracing features more extensively with the PS5 Pro. Games that offer great enhancements will be eligible for a “Trinity Enhanced” (PS5 Pro Enhanced) label.

Documents outlining the upcoming console show that the PS5 Pro’s GPU rendering will be “roughly 45 percent faster” than the standard PlayStation 5. This enhanced GPU will be larger and utilize faster system memory to bolster ray tracing performance in games. 

Added to this, Sony has implemented a “more powerful ray tracing architecture” in the playstation, with speeds up to three times faster than the regular PS5.

Backward Compatibility and Developer Tools

Sony is focused on continuing sales of the standard PS5 even after the launch of the Pro model. The company expects game developers to create unified packages compatible with both consoles, with existing games receiving patches to enable higher performance on the PS5 Pro. Developers currently have access to test kits and are expected to ensure all games submitted for certification in August are compatible with the PS5 Pro.

CPU and Memory Upgrades

While the PS5 Pro retains the same CPU as the standard PS5, it introduces a new mode that pushes its clock speed higher. This “high CPU frequency mode” targets 3.85GHz, offering a 10% increase over the regular PS5. Developers will have the option to choose between the standard 3.5GHz mode and the high CPU frequency mode.

The standard mode functions similarly to the regular PS5, allocating power to the CPU based on specific needs. The CPU operates at 3.5GHz when power allows, but may throttle down during power-intensive tasks. Sony assures that these lower frequencies are infrequent, with any unused CPU power being redirected to the GPU.

The high CPU frequency mode on the PS5 Pro diverts more power to the CPU, resulting in a slight decrease in power allocated to the GPU. This downclocking of the GPU by around 1.5% translates to “roughly 1 percent lower performance,” according to Sony.

The PS5 Pro also features improvements to system memory for developers. Standard PS5 memory operates at 448GB/s, but the PS5 Pro sees a significant 28% bump to 576GB/s. Sony claims that due to the PS5 Pro’s more efficient memory system, the “bandwidth gain may exceed 28 percent.”

Developers will also benefit from increased access to overall system memory. Games can utilize an additional 1.2GB of system memory on the PS5 Pro, bringing the total allocation to 13.7GB compared to the 12.5GB available on the base PS5.

PSSR Upscaling and Potential for 8K Support

The increased memory speed and allocations could prove beneficial for Sony’s new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) technology. This serves as Sony’s answer to upscaling solutions like Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR, aiming to improve frame rates and image quality on PlayStation consoles.

The PS5 Pro comes with a “custom architecture for machine learning” that supports 300TOPS of 8-bit computation. This architecture underpins Sony’s custom PSSR upscaling solution, designed to replace a game’s existing temporal anti-aliasing or upsampling implementation. 

Sony highlights that “inputs are quite similar to DLSS or FSR” and confirms full HDR support. This PSSR functionality requires around 250MB of memory, justifying the increased memory allocations on the PS5 Pro. Sony estimates a latency of around 2ms for upscaling a 1080p image to 4K and expresses its intent to support resolutions up to 8K while further reducing latency in the future.

Holiday 2024 Release and Enhanced Gaming Experience

With developers reportedly able to access test kits and a push for compatibility with the new PlayStation by August, a holiday season launch for the console seems highly likely. Sony appears to be following a similar strategy as with the PS4.

This projected expansion underscores the ever-increasing popularity of video games as a form of entertainment across the world.

The global video games market is expected to increase to nearly 390BN US dollars by 2028.

A global Kaspersky study also shows that gamers are just as passionate about shopping as everybody else.

Gamers are voracious shoppers at sales events, a recent Kaspersky study has revealed. Research shows that most games fans won’t miss a chance to improve their gaming setup during big sales events.

After preparing their wish lists beforehand, 71% of gamers buy as many of these listed items as possible during the sales events.

Many of them do their best not to miss out: 65% set alerts for the release of new items such as games, upgrades, or equipment, enabling them to make immediate purchases.

The study underscores the importance of sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday for gaming enthusiasts, with 74% rating these events as very or even extremely important to obtain games, upgrades, and equipment. Interestingly, the appeal of sales often leads to spontaneous purchases.

Regardless of the initial solution, 53% of gamers buy something for their system. Even with careful planning of expenditures, most gamers can’t resist buying something else during the general rush.

To achieve their perfect setup, gamers are open to using diverse payment methods, including cryptocurrency. A remarkable 57% of gamers are comfortable using cryptocurrency for online purchases, and 56% for transactions in physical stores.

Among committed gamers (those playing over 21 hours per week), this preference for digital currency transactions jumps to two-thirds.

“To ensure that people can do what they love without losing personal data or money, we are constantly improving our comprehensive security solutions. For example, Kaspersky Premium provides online payment and identity protection, data leaks checker and a superfast reliable VPN – a combo to beat cybercriminals in reality and to help gamers have an inspiring gaming and shopping experience”, comments Marina Titova, Vice-President, Consumer Product Marketing at Kaspersky.

To ensure secure online shopping, Kaspersky shares some helpful tips:

 1. Type the URL into the address bar

Opening links from online store emails can have serious consequences for online security. Fraudsters may use phishing links that lead to fake websites that look similar to the original store website.

On such sites, attackers may ask users to enter personal information or bank card numbers. So, whenever there is a need to open a web site of an online store, it is always better to type its URL into the address bar avoiding any links in emails.

2. Use a temporary credit card

Some banks provide their clients with the opportunity by issuing temporary credit cards. A tool like this will help you take advantage of the seasonal sales without fear of further data loss. Sometimes banks also offer what is known as a virtual credit card.

This is similar to a regular card, but a random account number is generated for each purchase, preventing hackers from reusing the number.

3. Manage and protect your online passwords

It is well known that cybersecurity requires customers to have a unique and strong password for each of their accounts. But it is also obvious that coming up with and remembering dozens of complex passwords is a very difficult task.

Therefore, to ensure the security of online shopping, password handling can be entrusted to a reliable password manager.

Experts revealed in the Kaspersky’s report The Dark Side of Kids’ Virtual Gaming Worlds explores the risks for young players in online gaming and analyses threats related to the most popular online games for 3-16-year-old children. Phishing pages used by cybercriminals to target young players mostly mimicked global titles including Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Apex Legends games.

To reach parents’ devices, cybercriminals purposely create fake game sites evoking children’s interest to follow phishing pages and download malicious files.

In 2022, over 230,000 gamers globally encountered malware and potentially unwanted applications that were disguised as popular children’s games. Since children of this age often do not have their own computers and play from their parents’ devices, the threats spread by cybercriminals are most likely aimed at obtaining credit card data and credentials of parents.

According to Kaspersky statistics, phishing pages used by cybercriminals to target young players primarily mimicked Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Apex Legends games. In total, over 878,000 phishing pages were created for these four games in 2022.

One of the most common social engineering techniques targeting young players involves offers to download popular cheats and mods for games. On a phishing site the user may get a whole manual on how to install the cheat properly.

There are specific instructions making a point about the need to disable the antivirus before installing a file. This may not alert young players, but it might be specifically created so malware avoids detection on the infected device. The longer the user’s antivirus is disabled, the more information might be collected from the victim’s computer.

“In 2022, cybercriminals even exploited games designed for 3-8-year-old children. This highlights that cybercriminals do not filter their targets by age and attack even the youngest gamers, with the likely target of reaching their parents’ devices. When focusing on young players, cybercriminals don’t even bother to make deception schemes less obvious. They hope children and teenagers have little or no experience or knowledge of cybercriminal traps and will easily fall for even the most primitive scams. Therefore, parents need to be especially careful about what apps their children download, whether their devices have trusted security solutions installed and should teach their children about how to behave online,” comments Vasily M. Kolesnikov, a security expert at Kaspersky.

To keep your children safe online, Kaspersky recommends users:

• Don’t neglect to show interest in your children’s online activity. Ask them if you can watch their favourite series or listen to musictracks together. As an option, you can learn together some secure practices to stay safe online.
• A good option couldbe parental control apps. But it’s important to discuss this topic with your child to explain how these apps work and why they’re needed to stay safe online.
• Explain that sensitive information should only be shared via messengers and only with people they know in real life. You can be a role model and show them good examples of good behaviour.
• Spend more time communicating with your children about online safety measures. Try paying attention to your own habits. Do you use your smartphone while eating or talking? Are your children mimicking any of your habits or behaviour patterns? Do they react in a different way when you put your phone away?

New research has revealed that over half (52%) of gamers identify with their online alter-ego more than their real-life identity.

Inspired by this dual-persona, Lenovo has teamed up with comic artist and game designer Salva Espín, to create a collection of limited-edition stickers that combine the on and offline world.

The digital world truly is a matrix of the real world, as research conducted by Lenovo found gamers feel their most authentic self when gaming at home (58%), followed by socialising with friends and family (52%) and participating in other personal hobbies and interests (46%).

With nearly 60% of gamers choosing to keep their gaming life until after work, findings revealed that certain professions feel their most authentic when playing specific genres of games.

According to Lenovo’s research study, clerical workers (44%), medical & healthcare workers (42%), financial workers (38%) and science workers (40%) for example, feel their most authentic self when playing strategic games. Whereas those working in the computer sector feel most authentic playing RPGs (45%) with creatives (40%) opting for role playing games.

Lenovo Legion laptops serve as an epic conduit, bridging the worlds that gamers often straddle. Complete with AMD Ryzen processors and AMD Radeon graphics, the Lenovo Legion 7 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 offer greater freedom to roam, while still retaining the power and performance to support so its users can continue to be irrepressibly stylish on the outside, and indomitably savage on the inside.

Many gamers live dual lives, yet rarely is this duality celebrated. Tapping into this mentality of multiple ‘skins’, Lenovo Legion has teamed up with Salva Espín, comic artist and game designer, known for his work with Marvel on characters like Deadpool, She-Hulk, X-Men, and Wolverine, to create a series of ‘Second Skin’ stickers

Salva Espín has commented, “It has been amazing to be part of this project, which has allowed me to indulge in all my passions design, gaming, and technology. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole creative process, working closely with the Lenovo team to shape the five designs that best illustrate the survey results. I’ve already customized my Lenovo Legion 7 with the sticker that represents the duality between my professional self and my gaming alter ego, and I can’t wait to see how these designs will become part of thousands of people’s laptops!” 

The stickers are a juxtaposition of what life would look like if we were to embrace our online authentic selves all the time. From a Mage on a coffee run to a knight checking their medical inventory, these stickers are designed to encourage gamers to embrace their alter egos, no matter what their skin.

ALSO READ: Lenovo Celebrates 30 Years of Design, Engineering Innovation

Alberto Spinelli, Chief Marketing Officer, Lenovo EMEA, comments: “We’ve had a lot of fun working with Salva on the Second Skin campaign. As a brand that’s always been passionate about supporting gamers to do incredible things – when gaming and in life – it’s our ambition that the Second Skin stickers encourage our community to be their authentic self, whether at work or mid-battle royal. Laptop stickers are an expression of our personality and in these designs, Salva has managed to capture the collision of both worlds brilliantly. We hope they spread as much joy as they’ve brought us.”

Christian Dotzauer, EMEA Marketing Lead, AMD, comments: “This research points to an important truth about the role of gaming experiences in many peoples’ lives as a source of fun, rich social connection, and true self-expression. The communities that form around games and gaming experiences are unlike any other, and we’re delighted to collaborate with Lenovo to celebrate gamers bringing their true selves to other aspects of their lives through Savage Stickers.”

The final sticker will be left to the Lenovo Legion Gaming Community to create. Anyone can submit their own dual persona sketch, simply by replying to the Community thread and uploading their artwork.

The deadline for submissions will be 26th January 2023, at which point, Salva will personally select his favourite before working with the winner to turn the concept into the final Second Skin design.

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A survey, commissioned by Kaspersky, revealed good mental health is one of the biggest factors affecting professional gamers, with eSport pros (36% in the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa region) most worried about their mental condition than other gamers.

Pro gamers pay strong attention to healthy habits and lifestyle – 35% take care of proper mental preparation and 26% don’t forget to get enough sleep.

Only 48% of eSport pros would rather keep playing to improve performance than take more breaks for sleep or eat healthier food.

According to a recent study, devoted to the predictors of mental ill health in eSport amongst competitors, conducted by University of Winchester, it is highly prevalent with eSports athletes at a level comparable to other professional sports, such as football. Results also show that pro gamers can face sleep issues, burnout, and social phobia anxiety.

The Kaspersky survey proves that professional gamers – more than others – worry about mental health, and 88% of eSport pros agree well-being is essential for top performance in gaming.

In addition, professional gamers treat their health more responsibly. In particular, eSport pros mostly pay attention to healthy habits – 26% think about getting enough sleep, 35% don’t forget about their mental preparation, and 26% taking breaks to move around when possible.

Also, 48% of eSport pros wouldn’t agree to keep playing, but instead will take more breaks for sleep or eating healthier food to improve their performance. In comparison, 64% of top gaming influencers would prefer playing than have healthy breaks.

“The competition level in gaming championships is extremely high, and sometimes is even like a real sport. To fight for leading positions, professional gamers spend a lot of time thoroughly preparing. In addition to the hard skills within specific games, soft skills play a big role in winning. Our survey research shows 82% of pro gamers agree that for them it’s mental well-being,” commented Marina Titova, Vice-President, Consumer Product Marketing at Kaspersky.

The full report is available via this link.

Kaspersky also recently launched ‘hacker:HUNTER ‘Next Level’, a six-part documentary series in co-production with Euronews, devoted to online gaming, esports and the pertinent security issues around them. The episode ‘The Darker Side of Esports: How Players Cope Under Pressure’ is devoted to the mental health challenges with which professional gamers have to cope. The episode is available on Tomorrow Unlocked channel via this link.

In order to maintain high-level computing performance and healthy system security, Kaspersky recommends the following:

• Beware of phishing campaigns and unfamiliar gamers. It’s a good option to double-check the website you are redirected to via the link in the received email and the extension of a file you are going to open.
• It’s safer to buy games only on official sites and wait for the sales — they regularly take place, so you won’t be sitting on your hands for long.
• Reliable security solutionscan support specific modes, created for gamers. For instance, “Gaming” and “Do not Disturb” modes in new Kaspersky solutions turn on automatically while users are gaming, watching movies or on a video call, and turn off when they are done. When apps intended for work, study or play are used, the relevant mode activates itself, hiding tasks and notifications. Users only receive critical security alerts when their attention is required.

Within the report Kaspersky defined the following gamers’ categories:

• eSports Pros

See gaming performance as extremely or very important; have taken part in tournaments at least once in the last two years; are either building an income from gaming, or value making some money from it

• eSports Amateurs

Have taken part in tournaments at least once in the last two years and like taking part in tournaments and competitions; do NOT look for money making opportunities from their gaming

• Hardcore Gamers

Play at least 20 hours per week

• Gadget Gamers

Invest a high or very high sum of money to improve their gaming performance (hardware / training / nutrition, etc.)

• Gaming Influencers

Stream at least once a month; have a minimum of 1,000 followers

• Top Gaming Influencers

Stream at least once a week and have at least 10,000 followers