Monetization , IP & Copyright for Gaming (Game Development)
The success of any venture is evaluated on the basis of it’s revenue performance and ability to find a successful (& sustainable) business model suited for it’s sector and industry. The gaming industry, particularly in Africa is still in its nascent stages and game developers are still exploring avenues and partnerships that can enable them scale quickly as well as monetize on their game(s) and content.
During our monthly meetup made possible by the support & sponsorship of Liquid Telecom, we were able to have 2 great speakers share on how one can monetize, protect their IP as well as avenues of generating revenue.
Local game developers were taken through 1.) What is IP? 2.) Stages and Costs on how to register a Copyright and Patent and what constitutes the same. 3.) The challenges & Opportunities (particularly in Africa) that local game developers can avoid as well as take advantage of.
We were privileged to hear and learn from Mr. Peter Kamero an Associate at Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, Advocates. Mr. Kamero is recognized by various legal directories including the World Trademark Review and Managing IP (IP Stars) as one of the leading intellectual property attorneys in Kenya. He is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, the International Bar Association, and the Kenya Christian Lawyers Fellowship. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from the University of Turin, Italy, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree from the University of Nairobi, and a Certificate in Copyright Law from Harvard Law School.
Success stories are what keep entrepreneurs motivated as they are able to gauge their performance against certain benchmarks and leanings. Stories also provide opportunities to better evaluate oneself as well as collaborate with others to build bridges to push the industry forward.
Next up was one of Kenya’s legend game developers Mr. Wesley Kirinya who shared his story, being a pioneer game developer locally and hurdles he had to jump to get to where they’re, importance of identifying partner(s) / co-Founder(s) you can work with as well as scaling a gaming product / service beyond your current market. He’s venture Leti Arts currently operates from both Nairobi, Kenya & Accra, Ghana where he’s co-Founder is based.
Mr. Kirinya has 15+ years of experience in game development and software development. He is a product of the University of Nairobi where he studied Actuarial Science after switching from Computer Science because of his interest in Mathematics. With his primary interest always being to prove that video games can be developed in Africa, he built the first 3D computer game in Sub Saharan Africa,Adventures of Nyangi from scratch in 2007.
We’re excited to welcome a new partner to the community: What’s Good Networks an online platform, providing an inside look at African urban youth culture across lifestyle channels including; music, fashion, tech sports and entertainment. WGS was represented by their co-Founder & CEO Tilo Ponder and we’re looking forward to showcasing more of the local and regional game development talent.
