Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office (ATO) is announcing a two-day Xbox Game Studios Game Camp in Africa. To empower African creators to realize their potential in the gaming industry through unique learning experiences from industry leaders. The conference will run from July 15th – 16th, 2023.
The two full days events are themed “The Journey of a Game” and will offer multiple perspectives on the complex craft of game development. In addition, there will be online learning components to the camp, which will allow participants to engage with focused training modules on topics that align closely with their skills and interests, before and after the event.
While the camp is available online for all registered campers, Game Camp will also host in-person viewing events for 100 selected campers at the Microsoft campuses in Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos, and Nairobi. These sites will offer viewing parties on-site panel sessions and opportunities to meet with Microsoft and Xbox personnel. Furthermore, teams or individuals with games to pitch are encouraged to do so.
To participate, individuals must be of legal age, reside in any country on the African continent, and be studying or working part or full-time in the field of software development, visual arts, 3D, music and audio, web design, narrative design, or professional project management. See the complete list of participation requirements at Xbox.com.
“At Xbox, we’re on a mission to bring the joy and community of gaming to the world’s 3 billion gamers and we recognize that Africa is home to the largest population of youth in the world, many who love to play. In 2019 I attended the opening of our Africa Development Centre and met with tech leaders, educators, and developers from across the region to understand their vision for the future of game creation. Through the inaugural Xbox Game Studios Camp Africa, in collaboration with Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office, we have an opportunity to continue to deepen our relationships with talented developers in region and help African games studios realize their vision and role in the global gaming industry,” said Phil Spencer, CEO, Gaming at Microsoft.
The Xbox Game Studios Game Camp program is an initiative that unifies various Xbox initiatives under one umbrella where talent is celebrated and game developers are empowered to pursue their dreams.
“At Microsoft, we are excited to enable African game developers and creators to build faster through access to tools and resources, and to help their games be discovered by players in Africa and around the world. We want to grow strong roots in this significant market for gaming and game development. The ATO and Xbox personnel will also combine efforts to identify game studios to invest in through our Startups acceleration program and venture capital investment partners. I’m looking forward to seeing what innovative concepts this Game Camp produces,” says Wael Elkabbany, Strategic Initiatives Lead for Microsoft CEMA.
Microsoft is hosting the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on Sunday, June 13 at 5 pm GMT. Where the company will talk about the gaming lineup coming out of the partnership with Bethesda. Games coming to Xbox this holiday, upcoming releases on Xbox Game Pass, and more. Interestingly the company has revealed what’s next for Xbox in a conversation on the future of Gaming at Microsoft today.
Amongst what’s next for Xbox; you can play Xbox directly from a TV without a console. Microsoft is opening cloud gaming on browsers to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. The release of at least one new first-party game into Game Pass every quarter. New subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass and new low monthly price purchasing models for console and Game Pass. The series of conversations took place between Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, members of Microsoft’s Gaming Leadership team and hosted by Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer.
Gaming is fundamentally aligned with our mission as a company. Gaming is the most dynamic category in the entertainment industry. We believe that Microsoft can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining the future of interactive entertainment.
Satya Nadella, MICROSOFT CEO
Here are the details on What’s next for Xbox and Xbox Game Pass
Xbox is working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experience directly into internet-connected televisions with no extra hardware required except a controller.
In the next few weeks, cloud gaming on the browser will open to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. With Edge, Chrome, and Safari support, players will be a click away from gaming on almost any device.
Xbox is exploring new subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass. So more players around the world can experience the most immersive and fun games across devices, geographies, and financial realities.
Later this year, we’ll add cloud gaming directly into the Xbox app on PC and integrate it into our console experience to light up scenarios like try before you download.
Xbox is working with telecommunications providers on new purchasing models like Xbox All Access, which allows consumers to buy both a console and Game Pass for a low monthly price, rather than spending money upfront.
Cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will launch in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan later this year.
Xbox is building its own streaming devices for cloud gaming to reach gamers on any TV or monitor without the need for a console at all.
We’re in the final stages of updating our Microsoft datacenters around the world with our latest generation of hardware, the Xbox Series X. This means gamers will see faster load times, improved frame rates, and experience Xbox Series X|S optimized games.
Games, Developers
With more than 23 studios worldwide creating games for Xbox, our goal is to release at least one new, first-party game into Game Pass every quarter. Role-playing games, shooters, strategy titles, adventure games, and more are all being built by our first party teams. To ensure that there is a steady stream of compelling exclusive content to explore.
Our independent developer program ID@Xbox has earned developers over $2B dollars since the program’s inception, with over 2000 titles launched and many more on the way. This model is now being used for ID@Azure, allowing independent devs to build cloud-based experiences. These programs bring new voices from diverse backgrounds into the world of game development.
What Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer’s conversation on why Microsoft is all-in on gaming below.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Microsoft renames its game development division to Xbox Game Studios
Xbox Game Studios will replace Microsoft studios in name moving forward. Microsoft shares this as it continues to bring its gaming platform across all devices. This means all Microsoft Studios game divisons will come under Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft Studios is Microsoft’s video game development division of 13 teams[studios].
Xbox Game Studios’ Corporate Vice President Matt Booty, shared this announcement in a post. He shares;
“At Xbox, we believe when everyone plays, we all win. It’s why we’re passionate about building a portfolio of games for players across console, PC and mobile. As we’ve expanded our focus beyond the console, the Xbox brand has also evolved from its original roots. Today, Xbox is our gaming brand across all devices, no matter how or where you want to play, or who you want to play with. In that spirit, I’m pleased to share that we are changing the name of our game development organization from Microsoft Studios to Xbox Game Studios.”
Microsoft’s game studios produce games such as Forza, Gears of war, Minecraft, Halo, etc. Positioning itself as a gaming organization, Microsoft looks forward to a great 2019 for gamers. It is also looking to bring in more exculsive and big update games.
