Carry1st Brings Mobile Premier League to Africa

Published by

James Fudge

12 months ago

Carry1st Mobile Premier LEague Partnership for Africa

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.

James Fudge

With a career spanning over two decades in the esports and gaming journalism landscape, James Fudge stands as a seasoned veteran and a pivotal figure in the evolution of esports media. His journey began in 1997 at Game-Wire / Avault, where he curated gaming and community news, laying the groundwork for his expertise in the field. In his more recent roles, James cemented his status as an authority in the esports business sphere as Senior Editor Esports at Sports Business Journal and The Esports Observer between 2018 and 2021.