Unlocking South Africa's Gaming Potential Through Collaborative Development

The South African gaming industry has a rich history of supporting major developers worldwide through work-for-hire firms, with several studios excelling in porting and co-development. Six Peaks Games, founded in 2022 by industry veteran Jason Ried, is one such company, leveraging decades of experience to make a mark in the industry. Ried, who started his career in 2003 and spent eight years in QA and production roles at Eidos and Disney Interactive Studios in the UK, is now CEO of Six Peaks Games and managing director at Fuzzy Logic, a mobile games studio he founded in 2011. Fuzzy Logic eventually specialized in AR and VR across various sectors, but Ried found it becoming too routine, prompting him to start Six Peaks to delve back into game development, focusing on co-development, porting, QA, and collaborating with former Disney colleagues. Six Peaks has partnered with Hardball Games, a Brighton, UK-based studio, working on long-term projects like OutRage, developing art, and building a significant QA studio. This partnership benefits both parties, with Six Peaks gaining access to big-budget game development and Hardball leveraging South African talent at a lower cost. The company aims to grow, currently employing 12 people, with plans to hire more and reach 30 staff by the end of the year. While primarily working with Hardball, Six Peaks is in talks with a potential publisher partner to scale up quickly. The ambition is to work on more publicly known games, prioritizing co-development over creating their own IP. QA manager Luan Joubert appreciates the shift towards longer-term projects and dedicated focus, a change from the fast-paced, high-pressure environment at Fuzzy Logic. The South African gaming industry boasts a diverse range of companies, including 24 Bit Games and Free Lives, known for their co-development and porting expertise. Ried notes the challenges faced by South African developers, including overcoming perceptions of distance and time zones, and the difficulty in securing budgets due to lack of trust in the region. However, he highlights the strengths of South Africa, particularly its universities, which produce talented computer science engineers eager to work in the gaming industry. The country also has a thriving film industry, providing a pool of skilled artists. Ried emphasizes the importance of looking beyond local markets, citing the success of global movies like Black Panther, which was made for a worldwide audience with an African theme. Joubert agrees, stating that African game companies can thrive globally without solely focusing on local audiences. Both Ried and Joubert stress the need for developers to work around the limitations imposed by the South African government, which they believe is inept and unlikely to support the gaming industry. Instead, they advocate for finding ways to circumvent these challenges, such as using inverters and batteries to overcome electricity supply issues. The key to success lies in creating a resilient, independent community that can navigate these obstacles and thrive in the gaming industry.