Nigeria’s Maliyo Games has partnered with Disney to develop a new mobile game based on the Iwájú comic animated series.
With the series set to premiere on February 28th, Maliyo Games is now developing the official tie-in to Disney’s Iwájú with its diverse staff from various African countries including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
Disney has also partnered with Kugali Media to co-produce the animation which is set in a futuristic Nigeria. The mobile game is titled Disney Iwájú: Rising Chef and is scheduled to launch on the same day.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Maliyo Games CEO and founder Hugo Obi says, “It’s a really great opportunity for us to build an Africa-focused gaming IP for one of the biggest brands in the world.”
Set in Africa, made by Africans
”This is what we are all about: making African-inspired content, so designing games based on African characters, African stories and sharing it with a global audience,” said Obi. ”The opportunity to build a game with Disney, it’s something you pinch yourself about. We’ve never had the chance to work with a client like this before. And to work on an IP that is Disney’s first African-focused animation series… it was a real honour.”
Initially, the Marvel Studios parent company sought out a local developer to produce an Iwájú tie-in and invited several developers to present game concepts and were later tasked with building a prototype. Fortunately, Disney was more impressed with Maliyo’s concept of an Iwájú mobile game and picked the Nigerian developer to helm the project.
“We are on the ground. We understand the market and the end users. We can relate and empathise with the story,” Obi explains. “It is our story and a story we know first-hand. And we had the opportunity to build a really beautiful and immersive experience based on that.”
