2025 Pan African collaborations take a new and rare turn in Respawn, an e-sports drama series set across Nigeria and South Africa, set to be produced by Sonepa (Nigerian prod company), Nile Entertainment and GameEvo (an eSports company).
The 9-episode series, which takes the Nigerian-South African cultural rivalry to another fictional level, is created by Mayowa Adegbite (who doubles as showrunner).
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Inspired by China’s e-sports drama series The King’s Avatar, Respawn follows two rival e-sports teams navigating a high-stakes tournament for the fictional game New Dawn, a tactical hero shooter. In Lagos, a reclusive gamer assembles a scrappy squad of underestimated talents, who are driven by an array of personal traumas, while in Cape Town, a disgraced gaming icon rebuilds a polished team of professionals, who are grappling with debts, familial duties, and hidden passions.
Abena Amu, Ayomide ‘Andre’ Adekoya and Mpho Kunene (credited as associate producer on Rattlesnake) are co-producers, with Kunmi Adenipebi serving as executive producer. Andre and Mayowa previously worked on Ndani TV’s, How I Got Broke where they met Abena. The filmmakers have all worked across a range of film formats.
“We want this series to be one of the catalysts for growth of African esports,” says Mayowa Adegbite on long term plans. “We are looking at Respawn putting African esports on the map and in the eyes of audiences who will either become new fans, new athletes or new investors. Like what the Drive to Survive series on Netflix did for Formula 1.”
The gaming and film industry in Africa has been gaining growing interest from global stakeholders. Africa is seen as the last frontier of these industries where new stories and narratives can be unearthed both for Africans who feel underrepresented and for Western consumers who are demanding new storylines.
Respawn is also timely with the recent news of Nigeria and South Africa in discussion to ease visa restrictions amidst an online clash between both countries that hit a high during the Uber frenzy earlier in the year.
Two major Nigerian-linked Pan African projects from this year include Kenyan-Nigerian Safari and Nigerian-Ivorian-French 3 Cold Dishes.
Pre-production on Respawn, Sonepa’s debut project, is slated for the first quarter of 2026, with a release in late 2027. Other talents in front and behind the camera are expected to be announced in the coming months. A yet to be named South African distribution is also expected on board.
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