Africa and the Middle East have the highest growth worldwide of gamers but are completely absent in the games when it comes to representation. None of the video games offer a variety of skins that represents the regions.
To be able to promote the cultural as well as traditional garments from these regions in video games, telecommunications company Orange and Paris-headquartered advertising agency Publicis Conseil launched Cultural Avatars #MaxYourIdentity. The goal of this campaign is to have the gamers feel represented in their own skins from their various regions. Therefore, they can proudly wear their traditional outfits from Africa and the Middle East in games such as The Witcher and Minecraft. This marks an important symbol for these gamers who are attached to their roots.
To be able to grow the potential of young talents, Orange decided to partner with three young designers from different countries in Africa and the Middle East. Yasmine El Tazi designed the Middle East and northern African costumes, Ibrahim Fernandez worked on the sub-Saharan region, and Marie-Laure Jaomatana worked on Madagascar. They poured their vision, artistic touch as well as respecting the traditional clothing to fit into the world of video games. These outfits that they created helped contribute to the creation of the various shades of skins.
The different outfits as well as skins were revealed to the public during the final E-sport competition organized by Orange in Abidjan last month. This competition is regional and was created to bring out young gaming talents in that region. At the same time participants were able to discover the traditional outfits worn by models from these regions.
This case study film sheds light on the initiative and its importance.
