Cameroonian video games studio Kiro’o Games has announced the release date of its inaugural African-themed game, which has been over two years in the making.
Kiro’o said its PC epic, “Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan” will be released on April 14, and will be available for download on Steam.
Kiro’o Games began developing its first game in December 2013. In September last year, the startup launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds necessary for completion of the game.
The startup said the campaign was so successful – Kiro’o secured 10 per cent of its funding target in the first 24 hours – it has enabled the team to complete the whole game, prompting the April release date.
The game is set to include numerous hand-drawn African animated characters featuring in 20 hours’ worth of fantasy-combat gameplay.
Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kiro’o Guillaume Madiba previously told Disrupt Africa he estimated the total cost of developing the Aurion game at US$1 million on completion, but said this is roughly one quarter of the cost charged by US and Europe-based game studios.
Madiba believes African game developers are missing a huge opportunity by focusing solely on mobile gaming, and believes the PC gaming market is set to grow.
Since launching Kiro’o Games, Madiba told Disrupt Africa the startup’s ambitions have expanded – he hopes to change the perception of Africans as limited to being consumers, and show the creative power of Africa’s gaming industry.
