Aurion: the mission to create African video-game heroes

A Cameroonian developer hopes to ignite Africa's burgeoning game scene with a rich and fantastical Kickstarter-funded release

When Madiba Guillaume Olivier was a boy in the bustling city of Douala, Cameroon, he was the envy of all his friends. His father owned a video rental shop, and that gave him access not only to the latest movies, but also to video games; when a new title came in, he would rush around the neighbourhood and invite all his mates over to play. "I had the classic Final Fantasy 7 on PC, and I had a Nintendo, PS1, PS2 and Sega Mega Drive," he lists over a Skype call. "I played a lot of Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect and Sim City. I think my all time favourite was Total War 2 ... but I only had one controller so we all had to be very patient."

There was one thing he noticed about the games he played, however: "There weren't a lot that depicted African heroes". He's right of course. Search around and you'll find Elena, a warrior princess from Street Fighter III, the ruthless Ugandan arms dealer Drebin 893 in Metal Gear Solid 4, the reincarnated warrior Zasalamel from Soul Calibur " it's not a huge or varied roster. When Africa itself has been depicted in mainstream games (beyond the many safari and wildlife hunting sims), it is often through the lens of war and horror: Far Cry 2 depicted gangland battles in a Malaria ravaged wasteland, while Resident Evil 5 provoked controversy for seemingly portraying a colonialist view of the continent as a place of threatening savagery. None of these really explore African mythology, anime or music. "There are not a lot of African creators," says Olivier. "It seems like creators focus on white heroes because they are white. They create heroes like them".