AfroGames: impact and social transformation in the gamer market

Credit: Disclosure

By: Renato Silva / Lupa do Bem – Favela em Pauta

Young people are trained for free to act as potential players, game streamers and even game programmers. In addition, English language teaching is provided in all training courses.

Faced with any scenario in society, narratives are built that give shape and meaning to places. When talking about Copacabana, for example, the imagination transports you to a warm setting, with the sun rising or setting, with bicycles passing by, people running, maybe a bossa nova playing in the background, crossed by the sound of the waves.

In the favela it happens the same, only in reverse: over the years, the narrative of violence was built from journalistic guidelines, in cinema and TV productions, which always narrate the place through absence, violence and death. But for a long time, there have been people who have struggled to narrate through a look of strength, creativity, culture, sports, movements and, above all, joy. And this group won a project that sees the favela as a great business and market potential: AfroGames, an initiative of the NGO AfroReggae.

Why train young people in the games market?

Officially opened in May 2019, the project served 100 students that year and in 2021, coming from Vigário Geral, Parada de Lucas, Cidade Alta and Duque de Caxias, with training for League Of Legends, Free Fire, Fortnite and a training course. programming of games, with the differential that all classes have mandatory English.

Ricardo Chantilly, the founding partner of the project, says that at AfroGames the most important points are inclusion and the promotion of jobs in the billionaire games market. “Our only criterion here is that the child lives in a favela. ‘Oh, but does it have to be in school?’ No, if he’s not in school, he’s already excluded. We cannot exclude the excluded. We want to include the excluded, understand? So if he’s not at school, no problem: he comes in, and then we’ll help him go to school”, says Chantilly, who adds that AfroGames has a multidisciplinary team and offers psychology and social assistance service to guide the most vulnerable students for public education.

Thais Xavier, student and game programmer, reports the importance of the initiative in her early career as a game developer. “It was here at AfroGames that I managed to find myself in the technology area as a programmer and game developer. So, I no longer see myself as just a student, I am a professional, today I am the illustrator and developer of anti-racist games and that has changed my life,” she says.

Inclusion in a billionaire market

Today, the project serves around 170 students from 12 years of age, all enrolled free of charge, with the right to certification and a training diploma. AfroGames also has 15 e-sports athletes who receive a minimum wage each, in addition to partnerships with companies to include programming interns in the market.

Worldwide, the game market moves in huge numbers. According to the consultancy specializing in games at Newzoo, in 2020 approximately 2.7 billion players generated revenues of more than BRL 833 billion at the current price.

For Chantilly, AfroGames points to a business possibility that provides social inclusion within a rapidly growing market and scope for multiplication of the format. “We want companies and governments to see AfroGames as an example to be followed. We won’t be able to serve all favelas that are impossible, but [I hope] that we will set an example for other favelas to be “invaded”, but now for technology, education and employment”, he concludes.

How to follow and support

To learn more about the work of the AfroGames project, access the training centre’s profiles on social media: Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and Facebook.