Qene Games

Country: Ethiopia

Founded: 2016

Team Size: 11-50

Platforms: Mobile

Status: Active

Overview

Qene Games is an award-winning game development studio based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Founded in 2016, the studio describes itself as Ethiopia's first game development studio and focuses on creating games rooted in African culture, art and music for players around the world.

The studio's debut game, Kukulu, is a 3D mobile runner about a chicken trying to escape being slaughtered by its farmer. The game won the AppsAfrica Award for Best Media & Entertainment App in 2018.

Qene followed this with Gebeta, a modern take on the traditional African board game Mancala, featuring power-ups and boosters. Gebeta won the AppsAfrica Award for Best App of the Year in 2020 and was published by Carry1st.

Beyond developing its own games, Qene has worked to support Africa's wider games ecosystem. The company previously launched Kinet Store, a platform intended to help African game creators distribute and monetise their work.

Games

Kukulu
Gebeta

Key People

Dawit Abraham - Co-founder & CEO
Samuel Sisay - Co-founder & Lead Developer
Meheretu Tsegaye - Concept Artist & Illustrator
Thomas Seifu - Artist & Illustrator
Yared Tsegaye - Game Developer
Freadam Abebe - Game Developer
Kalkidan Admasu - Operations Assistant
Merhawit T/Medhin - Game Tester