Brian Diang’a had never imagined that his childhood passion could become a career: this gamer found refuge in video games and e-sport to escape a difficult family universe in the largest slum in Africa in Nairobi. “The game was my only escape”, explains the 28-year-old player, recounting his childhood mired in poverty and violence. The one who is now known as Beast (the beast) discovered video games at the age of nine.
“My dad became an alcoholic, he would come home drunk and beat my mom. My house became a place I didn’t want to be.”
Brian Diang’a, gamerat AFP
Brian Diang’a then goes daily to playrooms, much to the chagrin of his mother who feared that it would have a bad influence on him and distract him from his school duties. “My mother would beat me up every time she found me in playrooms,” he remembers. But far from plunging into the abyss of drugs and crime, he turned to tournaments, which opened the door to profitable partnerships. Today, he earns around 50,000 Kenyan shillings a month (400 euros) in a country where youth unemployment remains a huge problem.
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It all started for him in 2013. “I came across YouTube videos where I saw gamers overseas playing Mortal Kombat, a game I played frequently to pass the time, and being paid up to $5,000 to compete,” he explains. He decides to do the same. Like other Kenyan gamers, he is now trying to find a place in the booming e-sport. Such a life choice seems absurd in Kenya, where academic achievement and athletic abilities are considered the only paths to success.
While studying law, Sylvia Gathoni became a pioneer in e-sport. In 2018, the young woman, who plays the fighting game Tekken under the name of Queen Arrowbecame Kenya’s first female and male player to be signed by an international team, UYU, based in the United States.
“The older generation has been formatted to think that to be successful, you have to follow a specific path: go to school, work hard in studies, and then pursue a career”
Sylvia Gathoni, gamerat AFP
She now travels around the world to participate in international tournaments alongside big names.
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Promising market
The sector of gaming still faces major obstacles in Africa, a continent which could nevertheless be seen as a buoyant market with 60% of its population aged under 25. Many gamers face slow internet speeds and unfavorable time differences with their overseas counterparts in developed countries, where the vast majority of servers are located. In Kenya, gamers and gaming halls are also subject to meticulous police surveillance, because the law does not distinguish between electronic sports and gambling.
“During my research, I discovered that the law must align with technology. There is still a lot of lag,” underlines Sylvia Gathoni, who wishes to specialize in electronic sports law to make things evolve. No official framework exists in Kenya, where gamers compete in informal tournaments with cash rewards.
“There is no structure at the moment, it’s just a group of friends who get together to play. For video games to become esports, you have to be organized and competitive.”
Ronny Lusigi, Tournament Organizerat AFP
Brian Diang’a, who now mentors young gamers in Kibera and hosts tournaments across Kenya, hope to see gaming “explode in Africa”. “The game kept me sane when everything was falling aparthe says. I want to see more people come into this culture.”