Kiro'o Games
Kiro'o Games, also known as Kiro'o Studios, is a privately-held Cameroonian video game, animation, development and publishing company headquartered in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Software, Programming, Game Design, Publishing |
Founder | Olivier Madiba |
Headquarters | Yaounde, Cameroon |
Key people | Madiba Olivier Bassangna Jean-Yves Meli Patrick Herve Tchekoulong Delphin Pondy Georges Odira Ononye |
Products | Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan |
Number of employees | Over 16 as of 2016 |
Website | https://kirooworld.com/ |
History
Kiro'o Games was founded in 2012 by Olivier Madiba. The name Kiro'o comes from the Swahili "kiroho maono", which means "spiritual vision". Since its inception, the company embarked on a mission to create a new genre of video games inspired by African myths and traditions (the first of its kind[1]). The studio was launched by its holding company Madia, created by Olivier Madiba in 2007.[2] Based in Cameroon, the studio faced many power shortages throughout its early development.[1]
On 10 April 2015, Kiro'o Games announced the closing of its investment funds of €182,504. Kiro'o Games ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund Aurion, for €49,000,[3] which was launched in September 2013.[4] Between 2013 and 2018, the studio raised a total of $305,000 in crowdfunding, and launched a new crowdfunding campaign in 2019 through its own crowdfunding platform (Rebuntu). The lead investor of the 2019 crowdfunding campaign was Rebecca Enonchong.[5] That amount has since more than doubled, with the company hitting $1 billion in equity crowdfunding in 2022.[6] The Mboa Manager is a mobile game that simulates the typical environment of an African civil servant.[7] The beta version is available since the end of 2020.[8]
Games
References
- Kushner, David (2016-05-16). "How Africa's Kiro'o Games is Shaking Up the Gaming Industry". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- "Olivier Madiba : Nous voulons faire entrer l'Afrique dans l'univers du jeu vidéo". Journal du Cameroun (in French). 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- "Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan". Kickstarter. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- "Aurion, une odyssée africaine". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- "Cameroon's Kiro'o Games turns to it's [sic] own crowdfunding platform to raise $1m". Ventureburn. 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- "Cameroon's First Video Game Studio Hits FCFA 1 Billion in Equity Crowdfunding". Ngwa's Penn. 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
- "« Le Responsable Mboa », le jeu vidéo qui parodie la vie politique africaine – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-09-25.
- "Jeu vidéo : Aurion, un Fantasy à l'africaine – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-09-25.