How Maliyo Games is turning local culture into global hits

Posted by Robbie McLachlan – Developer Marketing

In our latest #WeArePlay film, which celebrates the people behind apps and games on Google Play, we meet Hugo, the founder of Maliyo Games. He is on a mission to put African stories and talent on the global gaming map by creating vibrant games inspired by local life and culture. Discover how he is building not just games, but an entire ecosystem for game development on the continent.

You went from a career in finance to becoming a pioneer in Africa’s games industry. What inspired that leap?

I’ve always had a passion for economics and business, but after some years in finance, I wanted to move back to Nigeria and help build something new. I noticed a problem on our continent: we were huge consumers of digital content but not creators. Seeing the passion for our local music and film, I knew we could bring that same energy to gaming. My mission became clear: to shift us from being ‘net consumers’ to ‘net creators,’ using games as a medium to take our unique stories and culture to the world.

Your games are bursting with African culture. Why is it so important to you to tell these specific stories?

Because these are our stories to tell! I think of us as storytellers first, and games are our medium. We create games based on shared experiences from our childhoods, we feature things everyone can relate to like our love for property development and redesign in Safari City.

When people in Africa play our games, the reaction is pure joy and surprise. They say, “I can’t believe you guys built this!” because they see themselves and their lives reflected. It’s not just about enjoyment; it’s about a deeper, emotional connection.

Building a game studio where there was no established industry must have been tough. How did you tackle the challenge of finding and nurturing talent on the continent?

It was definitely hard. When we started in 2012, the biggest challenge wasn’t just finding skills, but finding the right mindset; so we started GameUp Africa, a free, pan-African training program. It was a longer road, for sure, but it has transformed everything. Today, 90% of our team came through that program. We’re now a team of about 30 people from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and more. Seeing these young, brilliant creators, some as young as 17, building their careers with us is the most satisfying part of what I do.

How has Google Play helped you achieve global reach from your base in Lagos?

For us, Google Play was a no-brainer. Africa is primarily an Android market, so it’s our primary distribution platform to reach our audience here and in the diaspora. But it’s more than just a storefront; it’s the entire infrastructure. We use the full suite of tools: Firebase’s analytics give us incredible insights into player behaviour, Google AdMob helps us monetize, and the testing tools let us experiment with new features. Google Play makes it possible for a studio in Lagos to build, scale, and operate as a truly global company without having to build that foundation ourselves.

What is next for Maliyo Games?

Now, our sights are set on growth. The next big goal is to get one of our games to one million monthly active users, as we build towards our long-term ambition of reaching an engaged community of 500 million by 2030.

Discover other inspiring app and game founders featured in #WeArePlay.