Following efforts to expand its footprint in various Asian countries including China, South Korea, and India, it looks like Sony’s gone shopping for PlayStation exclusives in Africa. As reported by CNBC, Sony has invested an undisclosed sum of money into Carry1st — a studio based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Sony only recently nabbed partnerships and PlayStation exclusives in South Korea
Speaking to CNBC, Carry1st CEO and co-founder Cordel Robbin-Coker said that Sony’s “strategic investment” into the studio is in its “exploratory stages,” with the view to targeting an emerging video game market.
“As large companies like Sony that have really strong footholds in tier-one and tier-two markets start thinking about where the next billion customers and gamers are going to come from, our pitch is that Africa is a prime market for that,” Robbin-Coker said. He pointed out that gamers in countries like Nigeria, Morocco, and Algeria are already buying consoles in gray markets. “Our hope is that we can help [Sony] to expand their reach of PlayStation in the region and support them in a range of ways,” he added.
Carry1st currently works with companies like Activision and Riot Games, and has helped to bring Call of Duty: Mobile and Valorant to Africa. However, it claims to have “original” games in the pipeline and is “very confident” about its roadmap.
