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AWS empowers South Africa’s largest video game company
As the world's foremost entertainment industry, video gaming reigns supreme, captivating audiences globally. This universally embraced medium, with its boundless potential and versatility, has surpassed even the loftiest expectations of the earliest game designers. Zooming into a local level, one business has led the way by seamlessly blending brand marketing and education with the power and impact of gaming.
For over 12 years, Cape Town-based impact gaming company, Sea Monster, has leveraged the power of video games to enhance brand equity, learning and social outcomes for its clients – who make up a long list of top South African, African and global brands like Nedbank, AlexForbes, Capitec, Takealot, National Geographic, and many more.
Glenn Gillis, CEO and co-founder of Sea Monster: "We’re an impact gaming company so our goal is always to promote marketing, learning and social outcomes through the power of games," says Gillis. “We’ve proven that animation and games are serious instruments for change within large organisations and society in general. The demand only continues to grow, so we have grown with it.”
From gamified educational experiences to innovative marketing campaigns, Sea Monster has carved a niche for itself as a global leader in the impact gaming space. However, with market innovation comes technical challenges, especially considering Sea Monster casts a global net where scale is dependent on the products being developed and launched at any given time. As the company soared upward, the solution was found in the cloud – specifically, with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Sea Monster's journey into cloud began as most businesses do, by seeking scalable solutions to deliver seamless experiences to their clients. Gillis explains, "Our AWS journey sparked from the need for on-demand compute power to launch the experiences we create for our clients. For many projects, we manage over hundreds of thousands of interactions per day, and we often have multiple projects on the go at any given time."
The decision to partner with AWS was a strategic one for Sea Monster. Gillis emphasises, "Early on, we connected with the people at AWS who saw the potential in what we were doing as a startup. That human connection was the clincher. You can’t perfect this solution without partnering with real people who understand your needs better than you do."
This partnership opened doors for Sea Monster, providing access to a full suite of services and the global infrastructure of AWS.
One of the key advantages AWS offers Sea Monster is the ability to scale rapidly to meet demand. Gillis highlights occasions where Sea Monster experienced spikes in traffic and AWS seamlessly provided the necessary resources to handle the load. "AWS allows us to scale our services dynamically, ensuring we can meet the needs of our clients without investing in costly infrastructure," says Gillis.
Furthermore, AWS's presence in Africa through local data centres has been instrumental for Sea Monster. Gillis notes, "Local data centres allow us to comply with data privacy regulations and deliver services closer to our end-users.”
As Sea Monster continues to grow, AWS remains a steadfast partner, supporting their endeavours and providing the tools necessary to push the boundaries of impact gaming.
Gillis: "AWS levels the playing field for small businesses like ours. With cloud technology, we can compete globally with larger corporations and offer scalable, stable solutions. It’s only through this technology that we are able to compete, and win, at such a high level."
Looking ahead, Gillis believes there are endless opportunities stemming from cloud technology. Gillis envisions a future where AI plays a central role in transforming their business.
Gillis: "AI is not a passing trend; it's fundamental to our growth," he states. "We embrace AI in everything we do, making our solutions quicker, cheaper, and more effective."
In essence, Sea Monster's cloud journey exemplifies the power of innovation and collaboration. By harnessing the capabilities of AWS, Sea Monster has expanded its reach, increased its impact, and positioned itself as a leader in the intersection of gaming, learning, and marketing. As they continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Sea Monster remains committed to using games to make the world a better place, one player at a time.
