The Story ⚡
Feranmi Oladosu, a Lagos-based game developer, has signed a publishing deal with Acclaim for Tossdown, an action roguelite inspired by Crazy Taxi and Paperboy.
Tell Me More
Feranmi Oladosu spent two years building Tossdown, an action roguelite about delivery workers fighting through Lagos inspired chaos. Now the Lagos developer has secured a publishing deal with Acclaim, the U.S. publisher behind Turok and NBA Jam, for a global Steam release later this year. The agreement marks one of the first major publishing deals between a Western publisher and a Nigerian developed game, a rare win for West Africa’s nascent indie gaming industry where infrastructure challenges and funding gaps have kept most developers operating in isolation.
Oladosu has been building games since 2015, starting as a university side project while studying computer science and working as a software engineer. Early titles included Unarmed, showcased at Lagos Comic Con 2017, and the free browser game Gundots. In 2023, after losing his job at a Canadian startup during global layoffs, he made what he calls a risky decision to pursue full time development on Tossdown, his first commercial release.
“In retrospect, anyone could have looked at it as a dumb decision. Because finances were not the best then. But I felt like I wanted to make a video game, and it was going to be successful,” Oladosu said.
The gamble paid off. He secured the Acclaim deal that same year without ever traveling for in person pitches. His strategy was simple but effective: build in public. By sharing development logs on YouTube, posting screenshots, and documenting progress on social media, he attracted multiple publisher offers. One viral tweet reached nearly a million views. Acclaim aligned on creative vision, offering marketing support, playtesting resources, and distribution reach while preserving his creative control.
Before publisher funding arrived, Oladosu sustained himself through work for hire game development for other studios. He chose a premium pricing model for Tossdown, deliberately avoiding mobile free to play mechanics in favor of an upfront price that would enable ongoing support.
The game’s concept originated from everyday Lagos life. “I was stuck in traffic one day, and I saw how a dispatch rider was struggling so hard, weaving through the traffic, almost getting hit. And I was like, oh, this could be the story of a delivery guy,” he explained. The result fuses arcade chaos with Nigerian hustle, featuring saturated visuals inspired by Jet Set Radio and mechanics drawn from classic arcade titles.
Key Background
Acclaim is a U.S. video game publisher with a storied history in the industry, known for publishing legacy titles such as Turok, NBA Jam, and various Mortal Kombat ports during the 1990s and early 2000s. The publisher has re-emerged in recent years, backing select indie and mid tier titles for global distribution. The Tossdown deal represents one of the publisher’s first major partnerships with a West African developer.
Nigerian game developers face significant structural barriers. Power outages and unstable internet are constant obstacles. Steam does not list Nigeria as a country option, a restriction that delayed Oladosu’s wishlist page by six to eight months. Limited mentorship leaves most developers self taught and isolated, while investors favor fintech over gaming due to lack of proven commercial success.
“No one has done it yet where they’ve been able to become very profitable with their games,” Oladosu noted. “That would inspire more investors to come here.” Local gamers, raised on AAA titles like GTA and FIFA, expect high polish, making it difficult for indie developers to monetize domestically.
In Summary
Tossdown represents a breakthrough for West African indie developers. Oladosu’s approach of building in public, targeting global audiences, and securing publisher backing offers a replicable model for Nigerian developers. His success could inspire the structural change needed to turn Nigeria’s indie gaming scene from isolated experiments into a sustainable industry. With Acclaim’s support and a Steam release on the horizon, Tossdown is positioned to prove that Nigerian game studios can compete globally.
Check Tossdown out and wishlist on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3241560/Tossdown/
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