A Cameroonian games development studio is going after a U.S. audience with a comic-book version of its Africa-themed role-playing games, “Aurion: The Legacy of the Kori-Odan”.
Kiro’o Games launched the Afrocentric video games in 2016. Gamers can play as African characters in Africa-inspired storylines.
The 220-page comic book is available for purchase on Amazon, according to Quartz. The paperback is available in English and French, and sells for $33.42. The Kindle version can be bought for $24.61.
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Kiro’o Games is described as the first video game studio in francophone Africa, according to BusinessCameroon.
While it is not stepping away from developing video games in favor of publishing comics, the Cameroonian firm recognized that many people without access to computers would not be able to enjoy their African-inspired role-play game.
Between 2017 and 2018, Black and white chapters of the comic version were available free online. They got around 100,000 downloads and fans loved it, Popgeeks reported.
This prompted the company to publish the comic in the hope that U.S. consumers would be introduced to the African fantasy game’s characters and storyline, according to BiztechAfrica.
The next volume of the comic is expected to be released in November 2019.
Kiro’o Games says it has been in touch with Netflix about a possible animated film version of “Aurion: The Legacy of the Kori-Odan”, Quartz reports.
While Kiro’o Games’ main business remains in video games, it is shifting its focus from the computer to mobile to tap into the fast-growing African smartphone market.
The games studio is expecting to release its first mobile game in 2020 — a social parody simulation called “The Boss”.
Kiro’o Games says it hopes to reach at least 1 million customers in Africa by 2025, according to its business plan.
