Shacks Evolution’s evolution: charting a home-grown path in African iGaming
Shacks Evolution, the Lagos-based studio that is fast becoming a reference point for African iGaming, was born in the middle of an unexpected lull. The founder and CEO, Ayofemi Panshack, recalls the day the sport came to a halt. “When Covid hit, I was working as the Marketing team lead of Merrybet, one of the biggest sports betting companies in Nigeria at that time.” With stadiums empty and fixtures cancelled, revenue dried up overnight. The company began searching for alternative products to keep customers engaged, but casino gaming was still a novelty in Nigeria. That search uncovered a bigger gap. “It was at that point I realised the absence of gaming technologies in Africa, and I found a space where I believed we could take advantage of to thrive. I quit my job afterwards to pursue this dream of building African products for Africa.”
Building African products for Africa
From the outset, Shacks Evolution focused on localisation—games written for local devices, local tastes and local bandwidth realities. The guiding principle was that a player in Mombasa or Abuja ought to find as much entertainment value as a player in Madrid or Macau without draining data allowances. In practice, this meant meticulous optimisation, lean graphics and a sharp understanding of cultural cues that make a theme resonate. Today, the studio’s titles are praised for their quick load times on 3G connections and in-game storylines that draw inspiration from African folklore, pop culture, and sports.
A landmark partnership
Momentum accelerated this year when Shacks Evolution announced a distribution agreement with Betway. For the studio, the deal validated three years of code sprints and market testing. “Partnering with such a powerhouse such as Betway is what we have strived to do for years,” Ayofemi Panshack tells SiGMA. Appearing in Betway’s Low Data casino lobby gives the games an audience of millions across the continent and, crucially, the credibility that comes with a Tier 1 operator’s stamp of approval. “We want to be able to also leverage this collaboration with Tier 1s to drive our value chain and get people to see what we can do.”
Lightweight, low-data, high-impact
Bandwidth remains the biggest hurdle for African mobile gaming. Average download speeds, especially outside capital cities, can drop below 5 Mbps, while data packages eat into disposable income. Shacks Evolution attacked the problem head-on. “Our games are lightweight, as you would find them on Betway under the Low Data section in the casino lobby. We are trying to show everyone and put our money where our mouth is. Africa needs localised games which are lightweight and low data, and we are giving them just that.” The company’s proprietary compression engine keeps most titles under 5 MB; some instant-play scratch cards weigh in at barely 2 MB, small enough to load instantly over a 2G signal.
Shacks Evolution’s global vision
While the heart of the business stays firmly on the continent, Shacks Evolution’s ambitions are global. The leadership frames the studio as Africa’s introduction to the wider iGaming scene. “While we are the first iGaming studio from Africa, our objective is to be that landmark studio from Africa with footprints all over the world. We are, of course, taking this one step at a time, focusing on LATAM and also Asia. Our games are very compatible with these regions, and we are actively seeking partners to spread our distribution broader.” Latin America’s passion for mobile gaming and Asia’s appetite for culturally vibrant content present natural opportunities for expansion. Negotiations with several aggregators in those regions are already underway.
Beyond online: stepping into brick and mortar
Online triumphs alone do not satisfy the team. Retail remains an untapped frontier where brand affinity can deepen, especially in markets where players still favour physical venues. “Now we are also moving into the retail, brick and mortar space. We are launching Busly for retail in Kenya and Nigeria over the next couple of months. Fingers crossed!” shared with SiGMA. Busly, a modular kiosk solution, will allow small shops and sports bar operators to install Shacks Evolution’s catalogue without a heavy capital outlay. If successful, it could bridge the gap between traditional betting shops and the digital ecosystem, creating a seamless online and offline loop for players.
Pipeline packed with integrations
Shacks Evolution’s strategy hinges on scale: more integrations, wider racks of titles, and relentless optimisation. Each new integration extends the studio’s reach by thousands of sites and millions of wallets, accelerating brand recognition far beyond its current strongholds in West and East Africa.
A new reference point for African Gaming
In less than four years, Shacks Evolution has evolved from a bold idea sketched during a pandemic lockdown to a studio whose signature appears on the home screens of bettors across the continent. The journey underscores what happens when local problems meet local solutions: technology tailored to bandwidth constraints, stories that mirror daily life, and partnerships that amplify credibility. As the Betway rollout gathers pace, Latin American and Asian negotiations mature, and Busly begins lighting up shopfronts, the company’s founding motivation remains unchanged— “building African products for Africa.”
