HIRU has spent 13 years moving from an idea toward an African action game. Kunta Content founder Dean Gichukie says he wrote its story in 2013, although active development only began in 2020. The Nairobi studio’s game follows a young Maasai prince hunting poachers who killed his clan, kidnapped his sister, and threatened his land. A trailer published in August 2025 showed the planned savannas, forests, and deserts. Kunta describes HIRU as a 3D action-adventure set in an African mythological world and lists PC and consoles, but gives no release date. That matters because a 2022 report expected the game in 2023.
The schedule reflects its funding model. Gichukie said in 2023 that Kunta was largely self-funding HIRU and taking other projects to keep development moving. The studio also used training, accelerator support, Ubisoft prototype funding, and the ID@Xbox program. By 2024, it reported expanding a 100 m² test map into a 4 km by 4 km world with 4K visuals. That is progress, but a trailer and technical targets are not a finished game. Kunta has not published a playable demo or firm launch window. What exists today is a Nairobi team building an African setting for the PC and console audience served by far better-funded studios.
Sources:
- Kunta Content games
- Games Industry Africa trailer report
- Safaricom on HIRU’s development
- PreMortem Games interview with Dean Gichukie
- Kenyans.co.ke’s 2022 report
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Citation
@misc{kabui2026,
author = {{Kabui, Charles}},
title = {HIRU: 13 {Years} {Into} {Building} a {Maasai} {Action}
{Game}},
date = {2026-07-23},
url = {https://toknow.ai/posts/hiru-maasai-action-game-long-development/},
langid = {en-GB}
}