after two years of solo work, he has released Go North — a cozy, narrative-driven maze adventure available on Xbox. It’s the kind of project that barely exists in Nigeria yet: an independently made game built in the country, for a global audience.
Ajiboye’s love for games started early. The first game he played was Pokémon. He and his siblings also had a PlayStation One and a Game Boy Advance with Pokémon
“There’s just something about choosing your team, catching different Pokémon, training them, and then battling,” he says. “It’s very intricate. That was the most fun part for me.
His first release was Water Bubble for Android and iOS. It got attention online, and soon companies started reaching out — science firms, media companies — asking him to build games and VR experiences for them. He freelanced for years
The idea started while he was working on another game where you play as a mosquito trying to suck blood from humans. On the side, he began prototyping a peaceful exploration game set in mazes.
I wanted you to walk around beautiful mazes, be immersed, and discover things,” he says. “And I knew I wanted to tell a story and make the audience emotionally attached to the main character.
According to the game description: “Dara begins her journey with a singular purpose: to Go North, meet the Maze God and have her undying wish granted. She must navigate countless mazes and labyrinths purposefully crafted by the Maze Makers to test her perseverance. But something sinister seems to be corrupting the mazes. Something… or someone
“I needed to make people feel okay getting lost in and finding and discovering things,” Ajiboye says. So he went back and focused on environment art, side quests, interactions, obstacles, and puzzles to make each level feel intimate.
He built the entire game himself. But he contracted out key parts to other Nigerians: concept art, 3D models, and music. “There’s amazing music in each level,” he says. He also created the “Maze Makers” — characters tied to each biome. There’s a meadow maker for peaceful mazes, a forest maker for wooded areas, a sky maker for floating islands, and more.
For two years, that was his full-time job. No team. No studio backing. Just him, marketing the game, applying to showcases and festivals, and trying to get it in front of players
Ajiboye says Nigeria is an interesting place to be an independent developer, mainly because the global infrastructure isn’t built for you.
“The first major challenge is restrictions on publishing,” he explains. “Steam, the biggest PC platform for games, you can’t create a developer account as a Nigerian. Nigeria isn’t even on the list of countries to select. I don’t know the reasons, but that’s a massive hurdle.”
It’s the same for consoles. “For PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, you also cannot create developer accounts as a Nigerian.”
Beyond platforms, there’s the problem of knowledge. There aren’t many Nigerian developers who have solved publishing, localization, or global distribution.
“There just aren’t many people who have solved some of the problems we have here,” he says. “Going to market, publishing on a global scale, localization — these are not things we’ve hacked in the industry. So it’s difficult when you’re trying to figure this out for the first time.”
He relies on Discord communities, but most of the people there aren’t from Nigeria. There’s little local mentorship or technical support to turn to
“I’m not limited to the Nigerian market for Go North,” he says. “My target audience has always been global. I’m building a game that I hope can compete on a global stage and stand beside all the other indie games out there.”
Over 46.6 million Nigerians play video games. But few games made in Nigeria break through internationally. Most players gravitate toward titles from the U.S. and Europe. The wider African game development scene is still young and underfunded.
“I hope it has a ripple effect,” he says. “Letting consumers know that if they are keen enough, they can find very good games made by us. And also showing other aspiring developers that this is possible.”
He also wanted to prove that the talent already exists locally. By hiring Nigerian artists and musicians for the game, he showed that the pieces of a great game are here.
“If Go North does well globally, I think Nigerians also love to appreciate things that have already succeeded,” he says. “That time and all the money I would have made freelancing were worth the sacrifice.”
At its core, Go North is about storytelling. Ajiboye says he’s drawn to writing that moves people, whether it’s excitement, sadness, or a strong emotional shift.
For now, he’s focused on getting the game to more players through showcases and festivals. The goal isn’t just downloads. It’s proof that a Nigerian developer working alone from Lagos can make a game that sits on the same shelf as any other indie title worldwide.
