Enter Africa Lagos Interviews: Moses Adamu, Game Developer and COO of Alheri Games
Moses Adamu, COO of Alheri Games, speaks to Adefoyeke Ajao about his journey into game development, managing a game development and consulting company as well as a video game recreation hub.
Can you tell us a little about yourself and your work?
I am Moses Adamu, and I am a Nigerian. I am a co-founder and COO at Alheri Games, a game development and consulting company operating from Ghana and Nigeria and also the Founder and CEO of MD Game Hub, a video game recreation hub in Nigeria.
I have a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria. I worked as a System Analyst and Software Developer at Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution PLC before leaving for the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), Accra, Ghana in 2018. I got accepted into MEST as an Entrepreneur-in-Training for the 2018 Cohort alongside fifty of Africa’s brightest from twelve African countries.
I am an experienced Mobile App developer, IT Support expert and also, I have built skills in Data Science and Project Management.
How and when did you start making games? What attracted you to game development and what’s the story behind Alheri Games?
I have always been interested in making games but I had not really done anything on game development until I got into MEST. Meeting my Co-founder Kwadwo Danso, a Ghanaian, sparked my journey into game development, even though at the time I was just looking for someone who could teach me how to build games. Kwadwo is very passionate about gaming, and also the best game developer I know. He was the one that opened my eyes to the enormous potential in the gaming industry. So, I realized that we could actually build a very viable business in this industry we were so passionate about.
When we graduated from MEST in August 2019, we came up with a new concept for a game development company and we called it Alheri Games. Alheri Games was built on what we had begun to learn about the hyper-casual game market. We researched and evaluated all the possible ways of publishing hyper-casual games and decided that since we had no game publishing experience and no money, we were going to build games and collaborate with global publishers to get the games to a global audience.
When we started, we had no idea what the publishers wanted or how they think. Because of this, 100% of the time we submitted a game to them, we got turned down. Right now, we understand them better, what they want, and the kind of games that will most likely make it in the market.
So, in ten months we have gone from having no clue to what a publisher wants, getting our games turned down 100% of the time, to having conversations with Publishing Managers on a weekly basis and getting every game we submit to the testing phase. We just need at least one of our games to scale the testing phase and we will be signing publishing deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
We have been bootstrapping since the business launched in August 2019, and it has been quite difficult. This was what made us introduce the consulting arm of our business. What we do here is that we build games for businesses that are looking for innovative, and engaging ways to acquire new customers and engage with existing ones. We have worked with two clients so far and have generated over $1000 in revenue from this.
Your focus is on building “hyper-casual games with African themes for the global gaming market,” what influenced this mindset and how are you using games to tell African stories?
Our vision is to see games made by African studios played globally. We believe that if you are playing a game which is an original concept by an African studio or developer, you should get a feel of the rich African culture. So, whether it’s the name of the game, the environment, other assets, the story, or sound, there should be a way to feel and touch Africa in the game. Some games we have developed have none of what I mentioned above, but the fact that the game was put together by African minds is in itself an African theme.
We believe that any original concept that has one form of African theme or the other is already telling an African story. We have plans for future projects that will be built on storylines about real African history and people.
What’s your experience with monetizing your African-themed creations?
I have learned that whether African-themed or not, it costs a good amount of money and a good understanding of the market and target customers to successfully monetize a game. In 2018, Nigeria made $122 million for the global gaming industry. Most of this money was made from adverts in games.
Nigerian and Africans generally find it very hard to pay for a game or in-app purchases, so most of the money is made from adverts. To make sufficient revenue from adverts, then the game will have to have hundreds of thousands of active daily users. For us, the way to go is still with the big global publishers who have the money, experience, and community to handle the monetization for our games.
Earlier in the year, you planned to launch MD Game Hub in Kaduna, how is the project going considering the current global situation with COVID-19?
We launched MD Games Hub 1 in Kaduna on the 7th of April 2020. The COVID-19 lockdown in the state saw us closed for more than two months. We could only open for operations twice a week. The lockdown has now been lifted and we are fully operational. We are currently working towards Esports events for FIFA and Mortal Kombat gamers. We are also working on something for kids, a program that will encourage children to read and be rewarded with game playtime.
How would you describe Nigeria’s gaming industry? Considering that you also operate in Ghana, how would you compare both environments?
The gaming industries in Nigeria and Ghana are still very much in their infant stages. One thing that is encouraging is that individuals and corporate organizations are beginning to wake up to the potential in the industry. I believe that we have more things going on in Ghana as it relates to the game developer and enthusiast communities and e-sports. Also, there is the more active participation of Ghana Telecommunications companies in the Gaming industry than those in Nigeria. Although I must commend Globacom Nigeria, for leading with their GameBox. There is so much more to be done in Nigeria because there is a huge potential here and an enormous supply of talent.
Is there anything you wish you had known about the industry before joining it?
I wish I had known how publishers think, I believe we would have gone further than where we are now. Nevertheless, I respect the journey.
What do you find most fulfilling about what you do?
The most fulfilling thing about what I do is that I am able to build a career and business around my passion. There have been very tough days, but because I love what I do and I believe in it, I am still here. The learnings I have had are also worthy of note.
If you weren’t pursuing a career in game development, what would you be doing instead?
I would most likely be a Mobile App developer, Data Scientist, or Project Manager at a Tech Company somewhere around the world.
What are you currently working on and what should we expect from Alheri Games in the nearest future?
At Alheri Games we are currently testing two of our games with some big global publishers. The kind of publishers that record monthly revenue in millions of dollars. So, expect a hit game very soon from Alheri Games. Then expect other hit games, games that will top global charts in the coming months.
To find out more about Moses Adamu’s work, follow him on Twitter @AdamuMoses or visit his website, alherigames.com
This interview series is part of Nigeria’s Gaming Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Practices, a project supported by Goethe-Institut Nigeria.
