Open to all – won by one. The Red Bull Mobile Esports Season 5 Open (M.E.O.) comes to South Africa this year with World Cricket Championship 3. The search is now on for the best World Cricket Championship 3 players to represent South Africa at the global final featuring teams from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka taking place later in the year.

Players can register on World Cricket Championship 3, which can be downloaded on the Apple or Google Play Store for free, and take part in the competition to stand the mobile gaming experience of a lifetime. Players create their team and compete against the AI and stand the chance to be placed in the top 8 leader board of the competition. The Top 8 will then compete in person at the Red Bull M.E.O S5 national final taking place at Imperial Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday 28 May 2022.

Red Bull athlete and Proteas player, Kagiso Rabada, encourages aspiring mobile esports players to take part in the tournament. “Cricket fans can get in on the action by signing up for in Red Bull MEO Season 5. With cricket being one of the most followed sports in the world, it’s cool to have the opportunity to connect with other cricket lovers through this competition.” says Kagiso Rabada.

P.R. Rajendran, Co-Founder and CEO, Next Wave Multimedia, said, we are very optimistic around the participation in season 5. WCC 3 association with Red Bull is highly anticipated by many youngsters and cricket fans to participate and compete. With every season, we are increasing our reach to engage maximum number of cricket followers and gamers. This is one of the unique competitions held at an international level, where the winner gets a chance to represent their country to become a global champion.

Red Bull will also be hitting key student and cricket fan player zones throughout May giving players the chance to grab a can and qualify. These player zones will be happening in Johannesburg, Potchefstroom, Bloemfonten, Gqeberha, Durban and Cape Town.

As the tournament is open for all, players of Red Bull M.E.O. have the unique chance to compete against top mobile esports players and other well-known players. If you actively want to compete, you can find more information on the tournament and how to register on www.redbull.co.za/meo

Gaming Innovation Group Inc. (GiG) has signed an agreement with an Angolan operator, Full Games SA, for the provision of full Sportsbook and Player Account Management (PAM) services in the newly regulated market of Angola.

This is the first agreement that combines the offering from both GiG and Sportnco Gaming SAS, immediately showing the power and synergies of combining both product and managed services offerings.

The new agreement in Angola marks a significant milestone for GiG signifying a new market entry, its first into regulated African markets. Full Game SA is a joint venture between the local partner GRUPO CHAMAVO, a holding of financial participation and business management in several branches of activity, and GRUPO VALISA, one of the largest retail groups for gaming in Spain. Full Game aims to quickly become one of the leading players in this newly regulated market for online gaming in Angola.

GiG will also support Full Games SA with its end to end suite of turnkey managed services in order for the operator to have quick and efficient access to the online gaming market in Angola.

GiG also anticipates that by securing its first sportsbook and platform deal in Africa that the company will be able over the coming years to build a presence on a broader scale in the exciting emerging African markets which are expected to grow significantly in the coming years as the market matures.

The contract is for five years and go-live is anticipated in Q3 2022.

Francisco Simão Júnior, Chairman of Full Games SA, said ” We are really excited to launch our betting and gaming offer soon in Angola. We think that Sportnco and GIG is the perfect fit to leverage our gaming licence and offer a very attractive gaming solution to all punters from Angola;”

Hervé Schlosser, Managing Director of Sportnco Gaming Group, said “ I am exceptionally happy to have partnered with Full Games SA. The opportunity to implement our sportsbook and PAM in Angola, a fresh and dynamic market, where we see tremendous potential, is a true testament to the Sportnco reputation and the strength of the partnership and offering we now have in combining Sportnco and GiG’s technology, people and service offering. I am extremely proud that we are one of the early movers and one of the first to secure a partnership there. We are looking forward to working with and building a long-term relationship with Full Game SA”.

The “Africa Gaming Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact and Forecasts (2022-2027)” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets’ offering.

The gaming industry is expected to register a CAGR of 12% during the forecast period (2021-2026). The Covid-19 pandemic had a positive effect on the African Gaming Market. The pandemic lead to mandated stay-at-home orders, which resulted in the customers spending more time and money on various games and gaming consoles, which led to the growth of the commercial segment of the gaming market.

Key Highlights

• The most recent trend is the growing availability and popularity of multi-functional gaming consoles, which are emerging in the market and helping in growing the market of video games in the region.
• The African region is one of the regions in the world where the youth population is increasing. By 2050, Africa’s young people, i.e., those aged between 0 and 24 years, will witness an increase of around 50%. Africa is expected to have the most significant number of young people. Africa’s youth is critical to the continent’s future when it comes to gaming.
• Moreover, African studios are making new inroads with the launch of original, locally produced content on Netflix. Several local content productions have also been nominated for several global awards, including the Oscars.
• The video games market in South Africa has witnessed strong growth in the past few years. It is expected that there will be more than 11 million gamers in South Africa. Gamers in the country are moving to social gaming, the free-to-play revenue model with downstream in-game purchases. It has become increasingly popular in the country.
• Owing to such factors, the market is expected to witness growth over the forecast period. Countries like Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda are the other top game developers in the African region. The gaming industry is also bringing millions of dollars to countries per year. This is for all categories of video games: mobile, PC, Xbox and PS.

Key Market Trends

Smartphone Segment is Expected to Have Major Market Share

• The proliferation of mobile technology and its associated use cases have unleashed technological evolution in the region. Further, the development of communication technology with leapfrogged traditional advances such as telephones has led to smartphones’ direct adoption.
• These instances have allowed the region to skip the cumbersome and time-consuming process involved in the traditional practices and gave access to newer technologies such as satellite that allowed for quicker installations and reduced costs.
• For instance, according to a report from GSMA published in 2019, an association of mobile network operators worldwide, there are over 747 million active mobile users in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby representing 75% of the population.
• Thereby, with the company marking its entrance into the smartphone market as the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa, it has boosted the region’s ambitions to become a regional technology hub and is expected to the smartphone gaming market.
• A comparative study conducted by the National Center biotechnology information on mobile gaming worldwide stated that smartphone gaming accounts for 24% in Africa.

Piracy, Laws and Regulations, and Concerns Relating to Fraud During Gaming Transactions will Impact the Growth of the Market

• Most African countries have gaming commissions and laws that regulate gambling. South Africa has clear gaming laws and regulations. It was the first country to create gambling regulations on the continent. Also, online casinos are popular in the country.
• In South Africa, several legislative attempts to further restrict online gambling and payment transactions of unlicensed operators have been postponed in recent years. However, some legislators and regulators at the provincial level have called for a less restrictive regime.
• A new advocacy organisation designed to collaborate, coordinate, partner, build and sustain the growth of esports on the continent has been formed. ESFA, or The Esports Federation of Africa, is established by a community of both private esports entities and national federations.
• WESCO affiliates it. With the launch of the ESFA, African gamers now have a voice, an advocate, an organisation with grassroots developments of players at its core. These will provide better opportunities and therefore strengthen the local market in the region.

Competitive Landscape

The gaming market is highly fragmented as the demand for online games and increasing penetration of mobile applications across the region will help attract new players to this market over the next few years. Some of the key developments in the market are Kucheza, Kagiso Interactive, Nyamakop, Celestial Games, Kuluya.

• February 2021- Designed to be accessible to all, Kucheza Gaming is on a mission to help the younger generation prepare for the future of work. They announced the School Esports (video game) League Season 2. Kids and teens come together to play Fortnite, Minecraft and F1 online every Friday for seven weeks. This is done in partnership with Mettlestate.
• March 2021 – Kuku-Ya-Ku is most famous for Monster Hunter World. They are also trying to target the six quests. They have launched the game “Iceborne”, which is proved as a successful launch.