{"id":15273,"date":"2025-12-19T05:37:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T08:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=15273"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:33:20","slug":"nigerias-safari-city-wins-africas-most-impactful-mobile-game-award-at-giaa-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/nigerias-safari-city-wins-africas-most-impactful-mobile-game-award-at-giaa-2025","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s Safari City wins Africa\u2019s Most Impactful Mobile Game award at GIAA 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Safari City is recognised for its innovative gameplay and culturally rich renovation experience, earning the Most Impactful Mobile Game title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nigeria.- Nigeria\u2019s Safari City: Renovate and Design has been named the <strong>Most Impactful Mobile Game<\/strong> at the 2025 <strong>Games Industry Africa Awards<\/strong> (GIAA), the continent\u2019s premier celebration of gaming excellence. The annual awards shine a spotlight on <strong>African creativity<\/strong> and innovation across game development, publishing, esports and interactive entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Developed by <strong>Maliyo Games<\/strong>, Safari City combines match three<strong> puzzle challenges<\/strong> with imaginative home renovation gameplay, allowing players to restore and <strong>redesign <\/strong>properties across bustling African cities. Its modular progression system enables players to earn resources through puzzles and unlock new design elements, blending <strong>strategy<\/strong> with storytelling to keep gamers <strong>engaged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hugo Obi<\/strong>, Founder and CEO of Maliyo Games, said: \u201cWe\u2019re proud to tell African stories through our games, built by African<strong> developers<\/strong> for a global audience.\u201d He highlighted the game\u2019s African cultural roots and <strong>global <\/strong>relevance, reinforcing why it earned recognition at GIAA 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marvelous Akinkunmi, 3D artist at Maliyo Games, said: \u201cOur goal was to make Safari City feel familiar to African <strong>players<\/strong>. The colours, the structures, even the patterns are drawn from <strong>local<\/strong> inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Players have also praised the<strong> immersive<\/strong> experience. \u201cSafari City has become my go to game. The puzzles are fun, but it\u2019s the <strong>personal stories<\/strong> and cultural details that make each renovation feel meaningful,\u201d said a player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With its <strong>innovative <\/strong>design, culturally rooted content and engaging gameplay, Nigeria\u2019s Safari City: Renovate and Design demonstrates why it deserved the top mobile gaming accolade at GIAA 2025, cementing Maliyo Games\u2019 status as a leader in Africa\u2019s gaming <strong>revolution<\/strong>.<\/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\/12\/NEW-MALIYO--300x200.jpeg\" 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\/africa-strives-to-become-a-creator-not-just-a-consumer-of-games'>Africa strives to become a creator, not just a consumer of games<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Safari City is recognised for its innovative gameplay and culturally rich renovation experience, earning the Most Impactful Mobile Game title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":15276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Maliyo Games' \"Safari City: Renovate and Design,\" a mobile title blending match-three puzzles with culturally rich renovation gameplay, secured the Most Impactful Mobile Game award at the 2025 Games Industry Africa Awards. This recognition underscores the growing prominence of African-developed IP within the global gaming vertical and solidifies Maliyo Games' market positioning as a leader in the continent's interactive entertainment sector.","focusai_entities":"Maliyo Games, Hugo Obi, Marvelous Akinkunmi, Games Industry Africa Awards (GIAA)","focusai_location":"Nigeria, Africa","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), operator_casino (0.7), product_ux (0.8), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"African Gaming Market Growth","query":"What are the projected growth trajectories for the African mobile gaming market, and how might this award impact investor sentiment and M&A activity within the region's interactive entertainment sector?"},{"label":"IP Development Strategy","query":"How does Maliyo Games plan to leverage this award to expand its IP portfolio, secure further funding, and potentially explore B2B licensing opportunities for its culturally rich content and modular gameplay mechanics?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60012],"tags":[60091,67,72],"class_list":["post-15273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-west-africa","tag-africa","tag-casinos","tag-gaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273","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=15273"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15302,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15273\/revisions\/15302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}