Enter Africa Lagos Interviews: Oluwatosin Ogunyebi, Game Developer, Co-Founder Throne of Gamers
Adefoyeke Ajao talks to Oluwatosin Ogunyebi about his community of gamers and his involvement with game development.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Oluwatosin Ogunyebi is a game developer and co-founder at Throne of Gamers. I am also a graduate of Computer Engineering from the University of Ilorin and I have a knack for everything gaming as well as the extended reality spectrum. I started game development during my third year at the university when I went on a three-month internship program at Center4Tech, Lagos.
What motivated you to start Throne of Gamers and what did you set out to achieve?
After my three-month internship at Center4tech, I started doing a lot of research about the gaming and game development industry in Nigeria and could not get much at that time. I and a colleague of mine, Hafeez Adewale, a 3D Artist and a co-founder at Throne of Gamers, decided to start something to reach out to other people who were in the games industry and work together.
Although we started Throne of Gamers as a game development company, we realized that the skill sets required to effectively run a game dev studio were not readily available in the country as at then. We then thought it would be best to create a community of learners and enlighten people about the game development industry in general, as well as the opportunities, present there.
Are there any membership requirements for those interested in joining Throne of Gamers?
Yes. To join our community, you must have a passion for gaming or game development and see to it that the gaming industry in Nigeria thrives. Throne of Gamers is a community for every individual, we believe in the power of all.
A lot of people regard Lagos as the epicenter of cultural activities in Nigeria, but you’ve been able to expand beyond Lagos. What’s the size of your community, and in what cities do you have an active presence?
Throne of Gamers started in Ilorin while I was still a student at the Federal University there. So I’d say we expanded to Lagos. We are connected to over 250 gamers across Nigeria and over 100 individuals in the game development space. We have a major community presence in 2 cities, Ilorin and Lagos. We also have our members in various cities such as Akure, Ibadan, and Abuja pushing the game gospel.
How easy has it been for you to forge relevant connections and how have you been coordinating the community’s affairs?
It’s been quite difficult forging relevant connections due to the state of the gaming industry in the country but we have been able to secure few strong connections. We’ve had VMWare/Virtualize Africa as our major sponsors for our annual Global Game Jam for two years running and also, Throne of Gamers is a member of Nigeria’s premier e-sports association, Esports Nigeria. We have been organizing game jams to foster collaboration amongst developers in the country. We have organized various gaming tournaments both online and offline and also organized training on game development.
What’s it like working with video games? How do people react when you tell them that you work in the video games industry and what’s the most challenging part of your job?
I played games a lot growing up and one of the reasons why I develop games now is because I really wanted to know the processes involved in making games. It’s been quite challenging I must say, but it’s fun when you love what you’re doing. From curating assets to gameplay programming, a lot of hours go into practice daily to get better at game development.
People outside the gaming industry are always curious as to how the whole thing works and are always amused as to how interesting game dev is after I explain in the best possible way.
The most challenging part of game dev for me right now is getting enough time to actually work more on game projects.
You’re actively involved in e-sports, do you think it’s getting enough attention locally? By extension, do you think there’s enough information about the local gaming industry’s activities? What are people missing by being unaware of the industry’s activities?
Yes, e-sports is an integral part of the games industry because, without the players, the games are useless. With the advent of mobile games (like PUBG MOBILE, CODM, PES MOBILE and so much more) that involves a lot of players battling against each other, the e-sports scene in Nigeria is starting to gain attention.
There is not enough information about the local gaming industry’s activities yet but major steps are being taken by key players in the industry and I believe with time, everyone would be talking about the games industry in the country. There are a lot of opportunities for the youth in the gaming industry and with more people being aware, a larger population knows that money can be made from both e-sports and game development.
In your opinion, what resources are needed to improve access to the industry and the profiles of its stakeholders? Are these resources readily available?
There are still a lot of things to be done, gaming generally is an expensive hobby. Internet and power in our country is still a major setback for the gaming industry. With investments from the Telcos and the big entertainment firms, the games industry would become much more viable.
How far would you say you’ve come and where do you see Throne of Gamers in the future?
I’d say Throne of Gamers is still beginning to settle as a community and we have a long way to go.
I believe in years to come, “the power of all” forged in a community like this would yield a lot of positive impacts in the games industry and beyond.
What are you currently working on? Any upcoming events we should look forward to?
We’re speaking with a major game development engine at the moment to have a game development boot camp in the third quarter of 2020 to train game dev enthusiasts and newbies on game development.
We are also partnering with Africacomicade to organize the first Pan African Game Jam coming soon.
Visit @throneofgamers to find out more about Oluwatosin Ogunyebi’s work with Throne of Gamers.
This interview series is part of Nigeria’s Gaming Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Practices, a project supported by Goethe-Institut Nigeria.
