NetOne launches Online Gaming market
By Farayi Machamire | Zim Morning Post |
Zimbabwe’s mobile network operator, NetOne has launched an online gaming market with over 1000 games in an audacious bid to tap into the global video game market whose size was valued at US$173.70 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach a value of US$314.40 billion by 2026.
The State-owned mobile telecommunications service provider’s online gaming market will hope to gain popularity using its market size of 4,3 million subscribers as a launchpad.
An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available.
Speaking during a media briefing on Monday, NetOne Board vice chairman Engineer Gibson Jumbi said the launch of OneGaming is of strategic importance as it dovetails with the mandate of the ministry of ICT Postal and Courier Services, to connect the unconnected and to improve access to ICTs.
“Our objective is trio provide NetOne subscribers with a gaming platform that gives them an option to select and play highly engaging Android and HTML5 games,” he said.
“The games can be played on any mobile device and compatibility across browsers and platforms be it Android or iOS or other WAP browsers. The mobile gaming market is the largest subsection of the mobile industry with 73% of all adults worldwide playing mobile games. In 2020 the market generated US$75 billion revenue which equates to 51 % of the worldwide revenue for digital gaming,” Jumbi added.
The gaming platform allows people to choose the subscription packages they can afford from as little as ZWL$20 for daily subscription, ZWL$50 for weekly, and ZWL$100 for a monthly subscription.
The online gaming platform will reward the top winners with the top five winners from top five popular games winning ZWL$2 000 every week, top five monthly winners will get ZWL$10 000 each and top five from top five selected games will be rewarded ZWL$20 000.
“This is the only platform that pays back to its customers,” said NetOne Chief Operating Officer, Jeremiah Munembe.
The online gaming market launch comes as NetOne is working towards offering a diverse portfolio of Value-Added-Services.
“OneGaming will without doubt bridge the rural and urban divide, tapping into the ever-increasing smartphone and tablet penetration. The deployment of the 3G/4G network through the recently launched NMBB Phase 3 project, has proved that ICT technologies can improve user experience,” said Munembe.
