The history of gaming in Algeria is closely intertwined with the Arab world. Geographically speaking, Algeria is the largest country in Africa. With its proximity to Europe as well as its strategic alignment with the MENA region, the country is infrastructurally and financially ahead of its African contemporaries, but has always had to straddle a fine line between the opportunities gaming presents and the connotations that come with the games industry. A lot of the concerns centred around the prevalence of sex and violence.
That unfortunately means that whilst there is a strong spending culture for digital entertainment the professional game development climate is still only the practice of a few, but that is changing.
For developers in the mobile space, Google Play enables developer & merchant registration whilst Apple also offers the same privilege for Algerian developers. For the more PC inclined developers, unfortunately most store fronts don’t offer the Algerian Diner (DZD) on their store fronts, but developers can launch their games on most PC stores (including but not limited to Steam, GOG, Humble).
The Investor Perspective
- Friends in the North
A relatively stable economy further enhanced by geographic proximity presents a gateway to the established games industry of Europe and the ever developing MENA region.
- High level infrastructure
Algeria is ranked 35th in mobile broadband, after being 44th in 2018 and 98th in 2016, an increase of 63 positions since 2016. In January 2020 the government tasked a ministerial delegation for Start-ups with a mission to promote the development of the digital economy, technology parks, the introduction of e-money and e-services, data and data base security. “High-speed Internet access has also been expanded through the modernization and intensification of the telecommunications network, where the government has recorded, in 2020, more than 133,000 new access to the FTTX network and 167,000 new access to 4G.
- Tax incentives
A variety of incentives including up to 10 years of exemption, depending on the location and size of the project. especially handy for post pandemic brick and mortar enterprises.
Voice of the developer
The games industry in Algeria is a bit low, there are no constant activities for game developers except for us and few other studios as far as I know, but I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people that are actually interested or working on projects.
Seifeddine Wassim Haddar (Jana Games Studios)
Games Industry Ecosystem
| Studio Name | Website | Platforms | Status | |
| Developer | Xerise | https://www.xerise.net/ | PC, Mobile | Active |
| Developer | Abdelhak Chabbi | https://twitter.com/chabbiabdelhak | PC | Active |
| Developer | Jana Studios | https://janagamesstudios.com/ | PC, Mobile | Active |
| Developer | Overgren | https://www.overgen.com/ | Mobile | Inactive |
| Developer | Green Side Studio | https://www.facebook.com/GreenSideStudios/?ref=page_internal | Mobile | Active |
| Developer | Tricksept Studio | https://www.instagram.com/tricksept/?hl=en | Mobile | Inactive |
| Developer | JetLight Studio | https://jetlight-studio.netlify.app/ | Mobile | Active |
| Developer | Broken Bird Productions | https://linktr.ee/Broken.Bird.Productions | PC, Mobile | Active |
| Developer | Okba Amrate | https://www.instagram.com/okba_amrate/?hl=en | PC | Active |
| Developer | Cyber Gear Studios | https://mounzak.itch.io/ | PC | Active |
| Developer | Ringosoft | https://souhilringo.itch.io/tlw | PC | Active |
| Developer | Berri Oussama | http://sam-dev.com/citizen-game/ | PC, Mobile | Active |
| Developer | Studio Dztfix | https://www.dztfix.com/ | PC | Active |
| Developer | Kosake77 Studio | https://kozake77.itch.io/our-legacy | PC | Active |
| Developer | Badiiiro Productions | https://badiiiroproductions.itch.io/ | PC | Active |
Events and Community
Vision and Innovation Club (Sparkle)
Game Craft inspired by Game Jams and organized by the Vision and Innovation Club with their scientific department SPARK.
A pioneer in video game development and the first initiative to introduce this field in Algeria, the Micro Club organizes each year this national competition for the development of independent video games” AGC “.
Formerly named “XNA” after the Microsoft Framework, today AGC is a game development competition for gaming enthusiasts across the country.
At its 10th edition in 2020, this competition aims to launch participants in a process of exploring the profession of video game developer, in order to attract investors to this sector.
Community of Algerian Video Game Developers.
Google Developer Groups Setif
Founded in 1985 as the first scientific club in Algeria, Micro Club is a student club within the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB) and a nonprofit organization that aims at popularizing computer science, indie game development and open-source technology fields among the student community and extended to all those willing to learn and share their knowledge.
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