Eric Gardiner and Mamello Raboroko, two former students from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), have taken the South African gaming industry by storm with their company Vetkoek Studios. In 2022, as final-year students, they entered a prototype for a taxi-themed video game into a competition hosted by Wits Tshimologong and won. Their game, Taxi Ranked, has now racked up more than 500,000 downloads. The game allows players to drive a customisable taxi while dodging potholes, picking up customers, and escaping the police.
Taxi Ranked features a distinctive bright art style and signature South African details like billboards advertising NikNaks and Ouma Rusks. Gardiner, who has specialised in visual effects, aims to create a unique atmosphere in their video games with rich and vibrant colours. The game's African theme and colloquial characters set it apart from other games. Vetkoek Studios was able to kick-start their independent video game company with incubation support from the Tshimologong prize, which allowed them to produce and publicly release Taxi Ranked.
Vetkoek Studios has branched out to include games with a message, such as Aquabots, launched on the online gaming platform Roblox in collaboration with a local wildlife nonprofit. Aquabots teaches younger players about fragile coral reef systems and marine conservation. The studio is now working on a car game based on the South African TV show Spinners, which aims to bring the spinning motorsport culture to a global audience.
In addition to video games, Vetkoek Studios has launched a new corporate service offering that provides specialised training games for companies, focusing on safety training. The company's founders, Gardiner and Raboroko, have committed to hosting the Roblox Accelerator Programme, a multi-phase development programme that trains young unemployed or part-time game developers to develop and publish their own Roblox games.
The Roblox Accelerator Programme includes cash payments of R5,000 for six winners and forms a key component of Vetkoek Studios' future goals. Gardiner and Raboroko aim to provide a bridge between being a company that makes games for profit and being a structure in their community, empowering more youth and enabling young people to build their own independent careers.
Over the next few years, Vetkoek Studios plans to expand its catalogue of video games, collaborate with industry peers, and partner with educational institutions such as Wits and the University of Cape Town to offer students training in video game development. Being selected for the Création Africa programme is a significant step in expanding their studio and taking it to a revenue generation position.
The Création Africa programme is a seven-month incubation and immersion programme hosted by the French Institute of South Africa, which aims to support young African entrepreneurs in the creative industry. Gardiner and Raboroko's selection as top 15 finalists is a great honour, and they plan to use this support to bring in good talent from their community and provide opportunities for young people in South Africa who don’t have jobs.
Key points
- Vetkoek Studios' game Taxi Ranked has more than 500,000 downloads.
- The company is working on a car game based on the South African TV show Spinners.
- Vetkoek Studios has been selected as one of the top 15 finalists for the 2026 Création Africa programme.
