The South African indie game development market is thriving, with multiple notable titles published across PC and consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While South Africa idoes not have any AAA studios or high-budget titles, its indie developers have produced multiple award-winning games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among South Africa\u2019s notable indie game developers are Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn, RuneStorm, and THE BROTHERHOOD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of these developers has published at least one successful title, with a few boasting sizeable catalogues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Free Lives, for instance, has titles such as Stick It to the Stickman, Side Effects, Anger Foot, and Gorn 1 and 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also produced the highly acclaimed Terra Nil in partnership with Clockwork Acorn – another well-regarded South African developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clockwork Acorn boasts solo-developed titles such as Feather\u2019s Edge, Jetstream, and Enter the Titan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these developers have been around for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A great example is RuneStorm, which began in 2003 with simple modding work on games such as Doom and Quake and the development of Ballistic Weapons – a mod for the Unreal Tournament 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From these humble beginnings, it would go on to publish its own titles, with the release of Viscera Cleanup Detail in 2015 being a notable standout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An underlying theme in many of these games is that casual gamers browsing online stores won\u2019t realise they’re from South Africa unless they investigate the title’s developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, one of the most well-known South African-produced games is nowhere near the most successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game in question is Relooted, which was developed by Nyamakop and released this year on 10 February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relooted received massive attention online following its announcement and ahead of its release, with many major media platforms and streamers discussing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this did not translate into player numbers. According to SteamDB, Relooted\u2019s concurrent player count peaked at 57, and it currently has only 250 reviews – although 86% of these reviews are positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have outlined a selection of South African-developed games you can play right now, and have even more reviews than Relooted, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Developer:<\/strong> Free Lives<\/p>\n\n\n\n Platforms:<\/strong> PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch<\/p>\n\n\n\n