PlayStation Pours Investment into Africa as It Looks to Grow Globally 1
Image: Push Square

PlayStation is already investing in countries like China, South Korea, and India, as it looks to expand its market globally – and now it appears to be turning its attention to the entire continent of Africa. An exclusive article on CNBC reveals that the Japanese giant has invested in Cape Town-based mobile publisher Carry1st, as it looks to expand its footprint around the world.

“As large companies like Sony that have really strong footholds in tier-one and tier-two markets start thinking about where the next billion customers and gamers are going to come from, our pitch is that Africa is a prime market for that,” said CEO and co-founder Cordell Robbin-Coker. “We believe very firmly that there is an incredibly underrated console opportunity in Africa.”

While the exact nature of the partnership is unclear – the article mentions that the two parties are in the “exploratory stages” of the alliance – it seems that PlayStation is eager to call upon Carry1st’s assistance in improving its sales in the continent. “Our hope is that we can help [Sony] to expand their reach of PlayStation in the region and support them in a range of ways, including broader go-to-market strategies, as well as digital payments.”

Carry1st also operates a localised payment system named Pay1st, which CNBC speculates could be used within games for add-on content and microtransactions.

But in addition to working with publishers like Activision to help bring Western franchises to Africa, the company is also plotting its first original title. While nothing’s been announced at this stage, Robbin-Coker told CNBC that he “firmly believes” the firm is on track to introduce its inaugural intellectual property later this year.

[source cnbc.com]