By Cooper Inveen and Francis Kokoroko
ACCRA – A keypad-locked door in Ghana’s capital Accra hid a neon-lit corridor of flickering processors, clicking keyboards and excited voices. The younger crowd erupted as brother beat sister in a tight-fought however good-spirited spherical of Mortal Kombat.
British-Ghanaian gamer Annabel Ashallay-Anthony smiled at her brother Adam, after the event match at a gaming hub organized by Melanin Avid gamers, a collective she hopes will change the online game panorama.
4 years in the past, Ashallay-Anthony and her two brothers established a crew of online game lovers devoted to offering a secure area for on-line players of various ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender identities.
Melanin Avid gamers has accrued greater than 4,000 members worldwide since then, and has hosted tournaments sponsored by trade giants like Digital Arts and Ubisoft.
After her brother Alan was harassed on-line for the colour of his pores and skin, Ashallay-Anthony made it her mission to construct a group the place folks might play collectively away from the racism, misogyny and homophobia typically related to on-line video games.
“Why is it at all times like, ‘Oh, somebody’s saying one thing, higher mute your mic’? ‘Flip your digicam off so nobody is aware of,’” she mentioned.
“All of this stuff are issues the sufferer has to do due to the bully. So I believed, why not do away with the bully?”
Lower than 4.5% of the world’s players lived in sub-Saharan Africa final yr, market information from Statista confirmed. However cheaper information prices might assist the market develop 12% yearly by means of 2026, in accordance with analysis agency Mordor Intelligence.
Ghana is among the international locations main the way in which. The West African nation had the continent’s second highest per-capita gaming inhabitants in 2021, with 27% of residents actively taking part in, in accordance with Esports analytics chief Newzoo.
The nation’s solely two gaming hubs opened previously yr on the again of this enhance in reputation, every serving as event and assembly factors for some Melanin Avid gamers occasions.
Displaying Ghanaians that there are viable profession choices in gaming is as a lot part of the Melanin Avid gamers mission as anything, British-born Ashallay-Anthony mentioned.
One member doing simply that's Ghanaian-Nigerian streamer Ritalucia Henry-Andoh. She makes round $100 per 30 days streaming and commentating on video video games, and goals to make it her full-time job by the tip of the yr.
She hosted her personal event final month, that includes Melanin Avid gamers and others from Ghana and around the globe.
“White, black, male, feminine, trans, non-binary – no matter you're, we'll settle for you as a result of we’re a crew of accepting people who find themselves discovering extra accepting folks,” she mentioned.
“Gaming is for everybody, and I believe we should always do extra to be kinder.”
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