{"id":12683,"date":"2025-11-13T05:07:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T08:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=12683"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:53:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T14:53:59","slug":"nigerian-game-rasta-santa-claims-victory-with-fakugesi-2025-rising-star-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/nigerian-game-rasta-santa-claims-victory-with-fakugesi-2025-rising-star-win","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian game Rasta Santa claims victory with Fak\u2019ugesi 2025 Rising Star win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Deluxe Creation Studios earns continental acclaim for its Afro-futurist action game celebrating African humour, art and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Nigeria.- The Fak\u2019ugesi <strong>African Digital Innovation Festival<\/strong>, Africa\u2019s premier celebration of creativity, technology and digital culture, has crowned Rasta Santa the winner of its 2025 Rising Star Award in the <strong>Animated Game Category<\/strong>, recognising the <strong>Nigerian-developed<\/strong> game for its originality, artistry and cultural impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Developed by <strong>Deluxe Creation Studios<\/strong>, a Lagos-based independent game studio, Rasta Santa blends humour, vibrant Afro-futurist aesthetics and <strong>fast-paced gameplay<\/strong> into a uniquely <strong>African narrative<\/strong>. The award marks a major milestone for Nigeria\u2019s growing game development scene and highlights the continent\u2019s expanding influence in <strong>global digital arts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThanks to the Fak\u2019ugesi Festival team for this recognition and for celebrating African creativity and <strong>innovation<\/strong>,\u201d said <strong>Edushola Shobowale<\/strong>, the developer, according to Games Industry Africa. \u201cBig congratulations to my <strong>super team<\/strong> at Deluxe Creation Studios and to everyone who supported the journey. The best is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A bold step for African gaming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2025 Fak\u2019ugesi Festival, held in South Africa under the theme Power Surge, spotlighted <strong>emerging creators<\/strong> in gaming, animation, design and <strong>immersive tech<\/strong> across Africa. The Rising Star Award celebrates innovative creators driving the future of African digital culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rasta Santa has drawn attention for its playful yet <strong>socially grounded<\/strong> storyline, in which a reggae-inspired hero takes on traffickers in Lagos. The game combines Nigerian slang, reggae music and bold Afro-<strong>futurist visuals <\/strong>with fast-paced, side-scrolling action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The studio\u2019s <strong>newest instalment<\/strong>, Rasta Santa: Retribution, is planned for PC release later this year, according to Deluxe Creation Studios. The title is currently available on iOS (free with in-app purchases) and listed on the <strong>Google Play Store <\/strong>for Android users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Nigeria\u2019s indie <strong>gaming ecosystem<\/strong> rapidly maturing, Deluxe Creation Studios\u2019 win underscores how African developers are shaping a distinctive digital <strong>entertainment identity<\/strong>, defined by local storytelling and global appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/LONAGUI-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/guineas-lonagui-holds-public-draw-to-award-15-young-students-full-scholarships'>Guinea\u2019s LONAGUI holds public draw to award 15 young students full scholarships<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deluxe Creation Studios earns continental acclaim for its Afro-futurist action game celebrating African humour, art and innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":12686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Deluxe Creation Studios' \"Rasta Santa\" secured the 2025 Rising Star Award at the Fak\u2019ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival, underscoring the growing influence of Nigerian-developed Afro-futurist content in global digital arts. This recognition highlights the maturation of Africa's indie gaming ecosystem, signaling potential for IP development and market expansion within the broader digital entertainment sector. The studio plans a PC release for \"Rasta Santa: Retribution\" later this year, building on its existing mobile presence.","focusai_entities":"Deluxe Creation Studios, Edushola Shobowale, Fak\u2019ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival, Games Industry Africa","focusai_location":"Nigeria, Lagos, South Africa","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.75), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"African Digital Market","query":"What are the key drivers and projected CAGR for the African digital entertainment market, and how might this growth influence strategic investment decisions for adjacent digital verticals, including iGaming?"},{"label":"IP Monetization & B2B","query":"How does Deluxe Creation Studios' award-winning IP, \"Rasta Santa,\" intend to leverage this recognition for enhanced monetization strategies, particularly through B2B content licensing or platform integration opportunities within the global gaming ecosystem?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60016,60012],"tags":[60644,72,60645],"class_list":["post-12683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-west-africa","tag-african-digital-innovation-festival","tag-gaming","tag-global-digital-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12683"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12729,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12683\/revisions\/12729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}