Nigerian studio’s first video game is an action-adventure steeped in Yoruba culture

Dimension11 takes inspiration from 16th-century Oyo empire for title backed by Xbox

Legends of Orisha: Blood and Water is a role-playing experience set in the ancient empire of Oyo. Photo: Dimension11

Many of the biggest gaming studios around the world had humble beginnings. For example, Naughty Dog – the studio behind The Last of Us and Crash Bandicoot – began with a game titled Math Jam in 1986.

But not every gaming company wants to start small and wait for its big break. Nigerian game studio Dimension11 is aiming high with its first project: an action-adventure game set in Africa using Yoruba culture and history for its storytelling.

The ambitious project isn't fazing the team behind Dimension 11, but rather they feel the need to tell their stories through video games, which haven't often looked to Africa for storytelling in the past.

Winston Ohunyon, Dimension11’s creative director and lead narrative writer, explains the motivation behind creating Legends of Orisha: Blood and Water. "We just wanted to use some of the best 3D technology to tell stories," Ohunyon tells The National. "Our first attempt was to make a short film. It just seemed like games were the next evolution."

Ohunyon says the team discussed what type of game they wanted to make and what the story should be before they settled on their own African culture, which they felt was underrepresented. He adds: "We made sure that we focused on the accuracy so that we don't shape or form a false identity of the culture that we're trying to represent.”

Legends of Orisha tells the story of a former soldier named Remilekun of the fallen ancient empire of Oyo. Existing between 1570 and 1836, the empire eventually grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking state through the organisational and administrative efforts of the Yoruba people, trade and the military's use of cavalry.

The game follows Remilekun as he tries to find solace in retirement but a force from his past pulls him back into his armoured gear as he tries to fight back and protect those around him. The action role-playing game will have players using weapons and fight moves to battle enemies.

In 2023, the game was chosen to join ID@Xbox's Developer Accelerator Programme, whose mission is to empower underrepresented creators to bring their creativity, innovation and originality to Xbox.

James Lewis, head of the programme, says it was clear that Dimension11 had immense talent, expertise and passion. “Dimension11 and Legends of Orisha exemplify the type of teams and projects that we strive to support," he says.

The team at Dimension11 – which consists of 24 employees – is small but determined. Ohunyon says their base of operations is in Nigeria, but their business strategies team members are in Dubai. Working remotely allows the game’s team to operate from different countries with different focuses and goals.

The team have been working on Legends of Orisha since 2023 and hope to release the game this year.

Although the game is in Xbox’s accelerator programme, the studio is allowed to release it on other platforms, says Temi Afolabi, a member of Xbox’s global expansion team in Africa and the Middle East.

“They will be coming to Xbox and we're pleased about that, but it need not be an exclusive," says Afolabi.

While a release date is yet to be announced, Ohunyon says the game will be ready soon, and hints that it’s “not very long from now".