“Everybody Here, Their Parents are either Liberal, Don’t Care, or are Dead:” Hopes and Tensions in the Subcultures and Spaces of Digital Games in Accra, Ghana

Africa is often heralded as digital gaming's big next market thanks to a young population and the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure. Drawing on five months of ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, this thesis explores the culture and spaces of digital gaming in one of the African gaming industry’s main cities. Engagement with digital games in Accra, I argue, reflects tensions of being young Ghanaian adults in local and in global spaces. Highlighting material and social access to games reveals how they can serve as a way to navigate and negotiate situations of waithood, while also offering hopes of escaping it through building skills and creating economic opportunities both within Accra and within the global ecosystem of gaming. Domestic game developers, trained at Ghanaian universities, largely rely on foreign funding to develop games which struggle to attract a domestic audience. I explore this disconnect between developers and players through analysis and play sessions of...Show moreAfrica is often heralded as digital gaming's big next market thanks to a young population and the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure. Drawing on five months of ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, this thesis explores the culture and spaces of digital gaming in one of the African gaming industry’s main cities. Engagement with digital games in Accra, I argue, reflects tensions of being young Ghanaian adults in local and in global spaces. Highlighting material and social access to games reveals how they can serve as a way to navigate and negotiate situations of waithood, while also offering hopes of escaping it through building skills and creating economic opportunities both within Accra and within the global ecosystem of gaming. Domestic game developers, trained at Ghanaian universities, largely rely on foreign funding to develop games which struggle to attract a domestic audience. I explore this disconnect between developers and players through analysis and play sessions of African-developed games, which revealed that many gamers are reluctant to engage with such games due to their perceived educational, rather than entertaining, focus and doubts about their quality and originality. The same players were mostly unconcerned with representations of Africa in popular games but raised concerns regarding the authenticity of Ghanaian elements within them. I argue that the community and spaces in Accra form a subculture of gamers which is influenced by the values and tastes of the global digital gamer subculture. Members of the subculture actively pursue opportunities to be acknowledged and receive (material) support from local and international society, hoping to improve the social and economic standing of the subculture and its members. This is particularly notable for professionals, who are often involved in educational activities to help legitimise gaming as a valid hobby and career path, and to recruit more members. I further highlight this by analysing Accra’s esports scene. I argue that many esports players are driven by the aspiration of being invited to participate at international tournaments, particularly ones in which they can compete as part of a Ghanaian national team. The attention they attract from this, they hope, will open new opportunities to gain sponsors and members, thereby working towards a professionalisation of Ghanaian esports. The analysis of these different parts of Accra’s gaming ecosystem highlights the role which the pursuit of acknowledgement and support across geo-cultural scales plays in all of them, borne out of frustration with, and a hope to change, the marginalised role of Ghanaian gamers within Ghanaian and Global society. By exploring and analysing the largely unresearched topic of digital games in an African context, this thesis offers new insights into young Ghanaian's engagement with digital media, enables insights into the development of games culture outside of the global digital centres of gaming, and contributes new perspectives and voices to both African Studies and Game Studies. It aims to build towards a foundation for future research and offers valuable insights for academics and games industry stakeholders aiming to expand gaming in Africa.Show less

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“Everybody Here, Their Parents are either Liberal, Don’t Care, or are Dead:” Hopes and Tensions in the Subcultures and Spaces of Digital Games in Accra, Ghana