Lagos, NIGERIA – 3rd July 2026: Google Play today launched its first
Indie Games Fund, committing $1 million to support rising, innovative
game studios from across 32 countries in Africa to scale their games and
reach a global audience. The fund provides equity-free capital,
technical support, and expert mentorship empowering African game
developers with the skills and resources they need to thrive.
While the African region is rich in creative talent and home to some of
the world’s most compelling storytelling, limited access to capital
has too often held back promising game studios. This programme addresses
that barrier, delivering the critical financial and technical resources
required for African indie developers to refine their creative visions,
optimise their games, and share uniquely African stories with a global
audience.
Programme support & funding highlights
- Direct capital injection: Selected studios will receive a share of the $1 million fund, with individual allocations ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 to expand and elevate their games
- Expert guidance: In addition to financial backing, recipients will benefit from dedicated, hands-on mentorship from industry experts
- Technical support: Studios will receive direct guidance to optimize their games, refine their technical frameworks, and boost market discoverability
“Africa’s unique creativity has fuelled a vibrant game development
scene,” said Ben McOwen Wilson, Managing Director, Europe, the Middle
East and Africa for Google Play. “Bringing this fund to the continent
underscores our commitment to unlocking the immense talent of local
studios, providing the resources needed to scale businesses, refine
creative visions, and share uniquely African stories with a global
audience.”
Eligibility requirements & timeline
The application process is now open to independent game developers who
meet the following criteria:
- Location: Applicants must be officially registered and based within one of the eligible African countries [1]
- Studio size & status: Applicants must operate as a private, non-publicly listed independent studio with 50 or fewer employees
- Product portfolio & platform commitment: Applicants must have already launched a mobile, PC, or console game. Selected studios must commit to making their game available on Google Play and participating non-exclusively in the Google Play pass subscription programme for two years
How to Apply
Applicants can review the eligibility criteria [2] and submit their
entries through the official program portal at Indie Games Fund 2026 [1]
before the window closes at on 31 July 2026. Final selections and the
announcement of the 10 chosen studios will take place in September.
The Indie Games Fund is open to applicants from Benin, Botswana,
Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire,
Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
About Google
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it
universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like
Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google
plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has
become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a
subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
For more information, visit the Google Africa Blog [3]. You can also
follow Google’s Africa team on Twitter: @googleafrica
