Proudly SA rooibos features in online game

A new action game, ‘Enshrouded’, has players searching frantically for the rooibos plant in order to survive.

Even though rooibos is solely grown in the Cederberg region of the Western Cape, in the game, the plant can be found growing in the virtual land of Nomad Highlands.

The Nomad Highlands is located in the heart of the game and is filled with valuable resources, including rooibos.

German-based gaming developer Keen Games recently launched Enshrouded, which requires players to obtain resources to survive.

The company said the game had already attracted a million users, with numbers growing by the day.

According to the Rooibos Council, a possible reason for including rooibos in the game is the growing popularity of the herbal tea in Europe and particularly in Germany. Rooibos is available in almost every German supermarket, department store, health food shop, specialised tea shop and even at petrol station convenience stores. The South African brew makes up about 10% of the tea that Germans drink, said the council.

Spokesperson for the council, Adele du Toit, said they were thrilled that audiences from all over the globe were meeting with rooibos in the virtual world. “The inclusion of rooibos into Enshrouded has come as a complete surprise and is sure to drive rooibos’s visibility and reach new demographics. Gaming has gone from a niche hobby to one of the biggest markets in the entertainment industry, with more than three billion gamers worldwide,” she said.

“By incorporating authentic products like rooibos, into a game often contributes to a more immersive gaming experience, particularly where real-world items are integral to the gameplay and are contextually relevant.

“We hope that players worldwide will associate positive experiences with rooibos in the game, which could potentially lead to increased awareness and a greater demand for our locally grown tisane [herbal infusions].”

The council said that last year almost 10 000t of rooibos were exported to more than 40 overseas markets, with Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK making up the top five importers.

Enshrouded available on STEAM and GeForce and is set to be released in late 2024 for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S. –