First visit to explore South Africa's games industry: Roots & Pixels is in motion!

With the support of the Global Minds Scholarship and VLIR-UOS, I was able to travel to Cape Town, South Africa to meet with relevant stakeholders within the scope of the recently accepted VLIR-UOS ITP (International Training Program) project ‘Making Meaningful Games: A Training for Women in Digital Entertainment.'

Otherwise known as... Roots & Pixels! :-)

Roots & Pixels is an initiative designed to bring together female-identifying game developers from Belgium and Africa; specifically within Africa, devs from the countries of South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda.

The training program offers an exclusive opportunity for maximum 16 talented female game developers (8 intercontinental participants, 8 from Belgium) to join a two-week training (23-3 April 2026) hosted in Kortrijk, Belgium at the campus of Howest Digital Arts & Entertainment. The program is designed to elevate participant expertise, build industry connections, and, above all, connect and empower female game devs from across the globe.

Week 1 of the training (23-27 March 2026) will offer masterclasses and workshops given by both Belgian and international industry professionals, while Week 2 (30 March-3 April) will offer a Game Jam during which small teams of participants make a ‘meaningful game’ (the beauty of the vagueness of ‘meaningful game’ is that teams can decide what a meaningful game is for them – and allow it to take shape).

Thanks to the generous support of VLIR-UOS, all costs, including travel, accommodation, and program expenses, are fully covered for intercontinental participants (participants joining from South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda). Belgian participants are very welcome to join as well (the project heavily prioritizes reciprocal learning).

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to fly to Cape Town and spend a week meeting with stakeholders for the project, as well as movers and shapers of the South African games ecosystem.

My first visit was to Sea Monster Entertainment, which is a studio fully focused on impact games (creating meaningful digital experiences for clients that focus on connecting people, building brands, and challenging perceptions). As Sea Monster is a global leader in impact games and is comprised of 63% female employees – and its CEO Glenn Gillis is the Chairperson of Games for Change Africa – the link to Roots & Pixels was clear from the start.

I sat down with Glenn Gillis (CEO) and Bella Rogerson (Marketing Manager) to gather insight regarding the state of the games industry in South Africa (and accordingly gauge what would be an added value within the project) and discuss possibilities for help with marketing and recruitment for the project. It was incredibly insightful – both Glenn and Bella have a very extensive insight into the local games/digital media scene, as well as external factors driving the industry.

Above: Visiting Glenn Gillis (center) and Bella Rogerson (right) at their studio office in Cape Town, South Africa.

Above: The lobby of the building in which Sea Monster Entertainment is located – super beautiful with hanging plants and photos of South African landscapes/wildlife.

I worked at Sea Monster for the duration of the day and was able to chat with the team about Roots & Pixels, opportunities to collaborate further with each other, and the ethos of Sea Monster’s work.

The next day, I met online (thanks to a recommendation from Bella!) with Sithe Ncube, Producer at Nyamakop, an indie studio based in Johannesburg. It was so fantastic to chat with Sithe – it felt like a match and was really insightful to hear about her experience working in production within the indie scene of South Africa. She introduced me to helpful contacts/resources for the project, and shared from her own experience starting out as a Community Manager and then moving toward a career in producing and advocacy/mentorship work. Sithe is absolutely wonderful. We will be further in tough regarding the programming of the training, as well as recruitment (she is based in Johannesburg, which is also a hub for developers).

Above: Meeting virtually to discuss the indie scene in South Africa as well as the project overview.

I also met for coffee with Tatiana Skliarenko, Director of International Programs for Games for Change. Tatiana previously worked at Sea Monster Entertainment before moving into her current role at Games for Change. Games for Change is an organization that I find fundamentally important and inspiring for global creators; Tatiana was able to share more about her experiences within global game jams and provided useful resources for both the training as well as collaboration with African developers as a whole. We brainstormed ideas for the game jam (second week of the training), and we discussed how Games for Change can support the initiative – and vice versa. (I’m a HUGE fan of Games for Change and the work that they do, so I felt very grateful to be able to meet with Tatiana).

As the University of the Western Cape is a partner university of Howest – and I had the opportunity to meet colleagues of UWC a few months ago when they visited the DAE campus – it was a must for me to visit the campus. During the visit, I met with Lois Dippenaar (Institutional Planner), Umesh Bawa (Director of International Relations), and spoke with Tracy Beckett (Manager of International Relations) before heading on an informative and historical tour of the campus with Wouter Grove, Manager of Special Projects and Researcher at the Western Cape CoLab for eInclusion & Social Innovation.

Dr. Grove showed me to the Future-Innovation Lab, where, each year, a cohort of students complete a 10-month program focused on software development (the program ends with an internship period of 2 months). We discussed similarities between our programs, opportunities to learn from one another, and the importance of soft skills in both of our curriculums. Inclusivity and accessibility for students were topics also at the core of our conversation.

Visiting UWC was an absolute pleasure – the passion that these colleagues have for their students is palpable.

Above: Meeting with Lois Dippenaar, Institutional Planner, and Wouter Grove, Manager of Special Projects and Researcher at the Western Cape CoLab for eInclusion & Social Innovation.

Above: Catching up with Umesh Bawa, Director of International Relations.

Above: The entrance of the Future-Innovation Lab at UWC.

Above: Another sunny day at the campus of UWC.

During my final day of stakeholder visits, I traveled to the neighborhood of Muizenberg to meet with two indie studios in the area – Studio Bolland and Clockwork Acorn.

As Roots & Pixels is a very interesting opportunity for indie developers, I found it crucial to meet with indie developers while in the general Cape Town area. I first visited Richard Bolland (Managing Director) and Simon van Wyk (Producer) at Studio Bolland, which also focuses heavily on animation (their games division launched around 2 years ago). Both Richard and Simon shared insights about the indie community and peer support groups (surprise surprise, through Discord as well) for indie devs in the area. They shared useful resources and contacts and were also enthusiastic about staying connected within the scope of our internship program (not Roots & Pixels-related, but still interesting). My final visit was with Francois van Niekerk, Studio Director at Clockwork Acorn. Clockwork Acorn is a very small indie studio based in Muizenberg; Francois gave me transparent and constructive feedback and was able to explain the very active ‘game jam culture’ in South Africa – and gave recommendations re: how to make this program a stepping stone for further cross-cultural collaboration/opportunities for the participants.

Above: A typical working day at Studio Bolland. I loved the bright studio atmosphere and very clear beach theme (there were also surfboards hanging on the wall; the studio is minutes from Muizenberg Beach).

I left Cape Town with such an energized feeling – and much more clarity regarding project goals and collaboration opportunities/priorities. The planning and programming is full-speed ahead, and our applications go live on 14 April (so soon!!!).

The project team and I cannot wait to continue working on Roots & Pixels. It's a blessing.

Next big milestone: Applications OPENING!

Until next time,

Allie Weis