REINVENTING AFRICA

The topic of wildlife preservation aside, We Are The Caretakers rejects the stereotypes of African countries and cultures often found in western-made games. Art director Anthony Jones is a veteran of Blizzard, whose games often lean heavily on caricatures of ‘primitive’ races (the studio has, admittedly, attempted to address this heritage with 2016’s Overwatch, whose Africa-set Numbani map is a utopic labyrinth of gleaming skyscrapers). Like Marvel’s Black Panther movie, Jones’ Afrofuturist designs mix complex machinery with indigenous motifs, architecture and dress, not just rebutting the association between African culture and ‘primitiveness’, but challenging western conceptions of what ‘cutting-edge’ technology is and what role it plays in daily life.