Africa-based mobile games publisher Carry1st has inked a licensing and publishing deal with India-based mobile esports and gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL).
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As an official licensor and publisher of MPL, Carry1st will be able to bring the platform to the continent—working with MPL “to optimize the product for African markets, starting with Nigeria.” MPL has also integrated Pay1st, Carry1st’s “monetization-as-a-service platform,” which “provides over 120 local payment methods for in-game purchases across Carry1st’s markets in Africa,” according to a release.
This follows Carry1st’s deal to bring Call of Duty: Mobile to South Africa in 2022. Also in 2022, Carry1st signed a partnership with Riot Games to “pilot local payments for the company’s games in Africa.”
In January, Carry1st secured a $27M USD investment round led by BITKRAFT Ventures. In January of 2022, the company secured a $20M investment led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Avenir, Google, and angel investors from Yield Guild Games and Sky Mavis.
