• Rise of Fearless, an African gaming startup, turns the 1896 Battle of Adwa into a blockchain-powered play-to-earn experience.

• Founder Kanessa Muluneh fuses heritage with NFT gaming, giving players real-world value through Web3 mechanics.

• With $700K in near-finalized funding, the startup is poised to reshape Africa’s $1.8B gaming industry.

Gaming has become more than a pastime; it has become a new job title, a means to tell a story and a new industry capitalizing on Web3 and NFTs.

The African gaming startup Rise of Fearless, a play-to-earn battle royal developed by Kanessa Muluneh, is a compelling invention merging cultural storytelling in games with Ethiopia’s historic triumph at the 1896 Battle of Adwa.

This Ethiopian game development project provides a new outlook to gaming, and as a gamer myself, I had to dive in and see what this historic battle royale game has to offer.

African Gaming Startup Rises: Ethiopian Founder Builds Web3 Game Rooted in Heritage

The Rise of a Historic Battle Royale Game Rooted in Adwa

The African gaming startup Rise of Fearless isn’t just another TPS(Third-Person Shooter) game; it serves as a tribute to Ethiopia’s triumph at the Battle of Adwa in 1869.

The game’s unique map design and combat flow channel that history victor, transforming virtual skirmishes into a celebration of resilience.

The mechanics of the play-to-earn battle royal borrow from blockbuster formats like Fortnite or PUBG, yet every weapon emulates African heritage: spears and shields.

The game’s development owes a lot to its dev teams, which previously worked on Axie Infinity, introducing tournaments that spiked downloads from 100 to 1000 in hours.

The game exemplifies NFTs in African gaming by providing in-game artifacts and collectibles inspired by Ethiopian textiles and artwork.

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In addition, its voice-overs are in Amharic and English, giving the gamer an immersive gameplay into Ethiopia’s rich heritage.

Championing Ethiopian Game Development and Diaspora Talent

At the heart of this Ethiopian game development is founder Kanesssa Muluneh, who fled Ethiopia’s civil unrest in her early days.

The young founder has a badge of achievements under her belt when, at only 21, she sold her medical tech company for $500,00, later launching in fashion and women’s football.

Now, her focus has shifted to an African gaming start-up venture blending Web3 and AI to reiterate Africa’s rich history.

Founder Kanessa Muluneh[Left] fuses heritage with NFT gaming, giving players real-world value through Web3 mechanics.[Photo: Arageek]

The organization’s cross-border collaboration has yielded richer game worlds and insight. Muluneh leveraged after investing in blockchain technology.

In an interview, she stated,

“When I first pitched this concept, critics said an Ethiopian game design would be too niche. Yet I saw a global appetite for new perspectives.”

The game’s narrative celebrates figures like Empress Taytu Betul, whose strategic acumen turned the tide of the actual war.

This approach provides an engaging angle for her community, enabling her to improve graphics and optimize servers as the game grows.

Play-to-Earn Mechanics and Cultural Storytelling in Games

Drawing inspiration from well-known platforms like Axie Infinity, Rise of Fearless integrates NFTs in African gaming. The historic battle royale game will feature A P2E layer next quarter, allowing players to earn in-game tokens. These will heavily benefit the game as how to earn NFTs in P2E games is a rising trend in Africa’s growing Web3 economy.

Muluneh stated;

“I met the team during my time investing in blockchain technology,And Axie Infinity was something that caught my attention because of the effect it had on the Filipino community. People told me they enjoyed the game because it allowed them to earn real money. I connected with the developers and saw an opportunity to bring this to Africa.”

Early drafts of the tokenomics models propose daily missions to earn baseline tokens for logging in and completing objectives. With growing demand and proper marketing, weekly tournaments will lead to limited-edition NFTs and marketplace accessibility, enabling secure swapping of assets.

This initiative is intertwined with providing a blueprint of how NFTs in African gaming are dominating.

Building a Billion-Dollar Vision

Africa’s gaming industry is steadily growing, with revenue reaching $1.8 billion in 2024, marking a $12.4% increase from 2023.

CHECK OUT:The Rise of AI as a Guardian in the NFT Ecosystem

Muluneh intends for her African gaming startups to tap into this lucrative pool and is near closing a $700,000 funding deal assisting in refining gameplay, expanding the marketing and integrating the necessary blockchain tech.

So far, she has received inquiries from investors about the investment opportunity, but she has turned down a few offers, a privilege she claims comes with building a solid network.

In an interview, she clarified;

“What people need to realise when looking for investors is that we are just there to get money, preferably without getting headaches. Most pitches revolve around how great their product is or how unique. That’s good, but we care when there’s popularity, or hype [around your product], the possibility for investment, and how quickly our money comes back to us.”

She further added that despite getting offers of around $8 million in exchange for a large share of the company, she rejected them all, citing that the company has a billion-dollar potential.

The Future of African Gaming Startups

Unfortunately, still being a nascent African gaming startup, Muluneh acknowledges that the road ahead still has a long way to go.

While the continent has a vibrant Web3 and gaming industry, blockchain gaming is still largely new and in her words, she feels like a fish out of water.

Anchoring on Ethiopia’s history and global gaming trends will inspire new-generation developers to take in the new frontier.

We have yet to see how far Muluneh’s vision reaches, but as of now, its potential is brimming as investors all line up to ensure they get a piece of the play to earn battle royale.