SA Gaming

I've been playing online multiplayer games in South Africa since 2005, a the age of 27. I was a late-bloomer! Looking back, I think my introduction to online gaming was pretty smooth. I work in the IT industry and wasn't too worried about taking that big step.

I'm still surprised to bump into gamers (in South Africa) who enjoy their gaming, but don't play online. Why don't gamers in South Africa play online? There are tons of players (lawyers/doctors even) who enjoy playing games but playing online seems like a big step that they aren't willing to try. Or just don't know is possible.

Internet access is pretty expensive here. Not many students (the gaming target market) can afford to play online. Not only is the cost of a connection expensive, but the users have to pay extra for each mb used. A game like Battlefield 2 (BF2) uses around 100mb an hour. A decent round lasts up to an hour. At this rate, it can cost the gamer R200 for 10 hours of gaming. (More than the game itself!) As a result, the gamers that do play online for the first time are either living with their parents (under 16) or are a little older than the average student (25 and on).

Once the gamers are online, they find that they don't get a decent 'ping' to gaming servers outside of the country, so playing online means that most gamers play against other South Africans. SGS and iGame provide many servers for most multiplayer games (like Battlefield and Call of Duty), and there are plenty of slots open.

There are a few cheaper 'bandwidth' options available now (local bandwidth costs a fraction of the international), but setting up a dual account looks a little daunting for most, never mind a person who's setting up an internet account for the first time. This has decreased the cost of gaming and increased the numbers in the gaming community.

To take online gaming in South Africa forward, I'd suggest a better marketing scheme that targets the costs of internet and gaming. There are many people who have an interest in gaming but still remember the costs of internet access from a few years ago when they first looked into it. Costs are coming down all the time. Non-gamers need to know about this to get their interest back, and then become gamers again!