A video game released this week by a South African company features characters from the African continent whose objective is to reclaim artefacts looted by colonisers from Western museums and bring them home – a playful take on a timely political topic.
“This isn’t just a heist: it’s a rescue mission,” the trailer for Relooted tells its audience.
Developed by the South African studio Nyamakop, it was released on 10 February on several platforms.
Relooted is set in the late 21st century, in a context where political powers have signed a treaty promising to return genuine African artefacts held in museums.
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When these museums learn that only the works on public display will be returned, they gradually remove them from exhibitions in order to avoid having to hand them over.
But they haven’t banked on the game’s heroes – a group of people from different African countries, ready to discreetly re-loot 70 artefacts, including a Yehoti mask from Burkina Faso, Congolese ishango sticks and a Ngadji drum from Kenya.
Reflecting diversity
On paper, Relooted incorporates all the classic elements of the heist video game: a motley crew of thieves, a bit of strategy, plenty of acrobatics and, above all, the thrill of the robbery.
“But is it really theft if it was already stolen?” asks one of the characters, summing up the game’s premise.
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Beyond Relooted‘s political themes, the game’s creators say they went to great lengths to ensure that African and Afro-descendant players felt represented, in an industry that remains predominantly white.
“From the beginning, it was clear to us that the characters had to be Black, African… because they are searching for the heritage of Black Africa,” Ben Myres, co-founder of the Nyamakop studio, told RFI.
“We also thought it was a great opportunity to work on the design of characters from all over the continent. For example, we have a Cameroonian character with a francophone African accent, and another character from Angola with an English-African accent. It’s very important for us to create truly interesting and deeply authentic characters, based on a very specific region and ethnicity.”
Myres also stressed that special attention was also paid to the musical elements of the game.
“We excluded Western instruments or the symphonies and orchestras that are often heard in video games,” he said.
“Here, there are only traditional African instruments and modern synthesizers. The idea is that African culture is magnificent, incredible and profoundly interesting. Most people in the world don’t know enough about it, and this game is really an entry point to learn more about the continent and its cultures.”
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Restitution on the radar
For the game’s producer, Sithe Ncube, simply telling a story written by Africans for a global audience already constitutes activism.
“As someone who has worked in the video game industry for years, I know that our stories, experiences and art are not authentically represented in games. And it is very difficult for African developers to compete with large Western studios in the same markets,” she said.
Despite Relooted‘s message of empowerment, the game has sparked debate among players since the free trial version was released in September, with some accusing the developers of racism. They claim making African characters thieves is counterproductive.
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Ncube says if nothing else, the game offers an excellent opportunity to discover or rediscover the history of real artefacts now on display at places like the British Museum or the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.
Globally, more than 85 percent of African heritage is located outside the continent. An estimated 90,000 objects from sub-Saharan Africa are housed in museums in France alone.
The restitution of cultural items has been on the political radar for some time now in France and other European countries.
During a visit to Burkina Faso in 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to return “African heritage to Africa” within five years, pushing other former colonial powers, including Belgium and Germany, to launch similar initiatives.
This article was adapted from this article by Léa Boutin-Rivière and this article by Jennifer Lufau, from RFI’s French service.
