Africa Animation, VFX & Video Games Industry Report 2020-2025 -

Africa Animation, VFX & Video Games Industry Report 2020-2025 - AI, ML & Deep Learning are Being Leveraged to Drive Hyper-Personalisation for Video Games - ResearchAndMarkets.com

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DUBLIN — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 31, 2020 — The "African Animation, VFX & Video Games: Strategies, Trends & Opportunities (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The African Animation, VFX and Video Games industry has the potential to emerge as an engine of growth for the continent.

The industry is in a phase where we are seeing the emergence of several African animation companies and animators working on attractive stories and content leveraging the continent's large potential for stories. Several animation studios in Africa release their content through online channels such as YouTube, which is attracting millions of subscribers both from the continent as well as worldwide.

African studios are making new inroads by launching original locally produced content on Netflix. Several local content productions have been nominated for several global awards including the Oscars. The Annecy Festival in 2020 will be focusing on animation from Africa.

There are a handful of globally renowned animation studios as well as several hundreds of small and medium-sized studios producing content tailored to local tastes. Supply of animation talent, which has historically been limited, is emerging with support and intervention of several governments and industry initiatives to develop and support African animation through university courses and vocational training courses which provide theoretical and practical hands-on learning on Animation, VFX and Video Games.

There are vast sections of the African continent where the potential for Animation, VFX & Video games has not yet been realized and calls for closer participation between government, industry, and academia to catalyse the industry growth. The industry needs support in the form of training, funding, tax incentives, market reach, access to hardware and software, legal support to protect the content IP. access to global distribution and collaboration networks etc.

Countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia are emerging as the leaders from Africa through content productions as well as collaborations. This includes content for movies, television, games, augmented reality, virtual reality, advertising, web designs and industrial applications such as architecture, engineering, industrial design, healthcare, education, medicine, and the motor industry.

The demand for animation, VFX and video gaming has expanded with the increase in targeted broadcasting hours by cable and satellite TV, availability of low-cost internet access, penetration of mobile devices along with the growing popularity of streaming video. In addition, the demand for Animation and VFX content to power immersive experiences such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality is growing exponentially.

The rapid advancement of technology has made animation, VFX & games available to the masses, and this industry has become one of the fastest-growing segments in the global media and entertainment market. We are increasingly seeing more of animation, VFX and games production taking place in a globally distributed mode. Production work is becoming global with countries as well as regions offering tax incentives, subsidies, financial support, regional low labor costs etc. and companies are cutting costs by setting up facilities in such regions.

Cloud computing is playing a key role in character rendering and modeling processes as cloud-based rendering of animation films is more effective and efficient as it reduces the time and cost compared to traditional rendering.

Emerging Trends in the Animation, VFX & Video Games Industry:

The combination of live-action and animation will alter the form, as well as the content, of film animation.
Animation is no longer a profession limited to animators with increasing participation from computer professionals, programmers, technicians etc.
The evolution of visual effects (VFX), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies are dramatically changing both the creation and consumption of films, videos, games, and more.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality adoption will drive the demand for animation content.
Production work is moving around the world - tax incentives, regional low labor costs and subsidies put pressure on existing companies to reduce costs and set up facilities in tax-advantaged or low-cost regions.
Media consumption habits are changing rapidly, windows for film releases are narrowing, and follow-on markets are shifting from television, cable, DVD and rentals to streaming and digital downloads.
The international film market in several emerging markets is growing quickly and creating new opportunities. Regulations in several countries limit imported animation content without a certain amount of local participation and studios are collaborating with local partners to produce content.
Although 2D animation will survive, it will be largely in the form of hybrid 2D/3D animation. As well as reducing costs, using CGI for backgrounds allows for a more dynamic camera. The training offered to animators are biased in favor of CGI and so artists with traditional 2D skills are becoming harder to find.
The changing viewing habits favour short productions as a form of entertainment. The viewing habits generally favor short-form content that can be turned out quickly and cheaply.
Merchandise is already a major form of revenue generation for animated films and in future it could form a much larger share of revenues.
Artificial Intelligence, machine learning & deep learning are being leveraged to drive hyperpersonalisation for video games.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning based techniques are being used for in-game analytics, customer acquisition, retention, cross-sell, churn, classify player behavior etc.
Micro-segmentation of fans is emerging as eSports leagues and tournament are consolidating various genres, platforms and viewing experiences by careful customer segmentation, targeting and positioning.
In video games, predictive analytics can be used to forecast when a player will stop playing, if a player will convert from a non-paying to a paying user, what types of items players will purchase, classify player behavior, etc.
Cloud Gaming services which are growing at an exponential pace would need the right pricing model to both drive adoption and generate sufficient returns for platforms and publishers.
The availability of low-cost micro-payment systems is allowing users to pay for access or download small quantities of digital content and is the key for online games market to grow.