AFRICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE DIGITAL SPACE: GAME CONTENT

The article is devoted to the digitalization of African cultural heritage. It is considered as a set of tangible and intangible objects, historical monuments, art objects, traditions and symbols created by people of African descent in the past, representing value in the present and preserved for the future. The author emphasizes the representation of cultural heritage in virtual environments, including retroconversion, the development of digital collections, and 3D modeling. The study particularly highlights the creation of game content aimed at enhancing engagement of the audience with African cultures and traditions. Both large international organizations and young African “digital enthusiasts” are involved in this process. Using the example of three game applications “Kissoro” (2018), “Héros Africaine” (2024) and “Relooted” (2025), created over the past seven years, the author analyzes the peculiarities of reflecting African cultural values, historical characters and events in the digital environment. The article shows the connection of one of the video games with actual events in the real world, including a discussion about the restitution of objects of African cultural heritage. It is noted that in the context of a high degree of mobile Internet penetration in African countries, game content has significant potential. It is concluded that the gamification of African cultural heritage, like other digitalization processes, has both positive and negative sides. On the one hand, it preserves and disseminates information about heritage, and on the other, it universalizes and simplifies cultural and moral-ethical codes.