Black Sailors: Bay of All Saints - From Backlash to Gamescom

Our relationship with Black Sailors: Bay of All Saints, a Brazilian game by Mandinga Games, started long before Gamescom.

We first connected with Tiago Prudente following the game's announcement on Steam. Inspired by the history of Africans forcibly displaced to Brazil, the project was born from Mandinga Games' desire to honor their African ancestors and reclaim a part of history rarely explored through games.

This decolonial approach immediately resonated with Narratify. Rather than centering the Western perspective traditionally used to depict this period, Black Sailors: Bay of All Saints puts African characters and their experiences at the heart of its story, while restoring the historical context in which Africans were forcibly brought to Brazil.

From backlash to support

Following its Steam announcement, the game faced significant cultural backlash online. We connected with Tiago and offered advice and support on navigating the situation.

We later featured the project in Disculture, our video collaboration with French anti-racist media Histoires Crépues, using the controversy to discuss representation, historical narratives and the backlash that can emerge when games challenge dominant perspectives.

Then, Black Sailors was featured in our Afro Game Showcase, an online summer event dedicated to amplifying african and afro-diasporic narratives in games. The feedback was immediate: Black Sailors resonated very positively with the showcase audience. finally, a decolonial perspective coming straight from Brazil, combined to an innovative ship game.

From online support to Gamescom

Our latest collaboration felt like a natural continuation of that relationship: moving from defending culturally distinctive games to actively helping people discover them.

As part of Narratify's African Games presence in the Indie Arena Booth, we showcased a playable build of Black Sailors: Bay of All Saints across five days of Gamescom, reaching both industry professionals and an international consumer audience.

Our team was trained on the build beforehand to introduce the game to visitors and encourage wishlists. The activation included:

• Visibility through the Gamescom 2026 Steam event page
• Physical Showcase on the Games From Africa booth
• Photos of players and Social media coverage
• A deep-dive into Gamescom players feedback as opposed to the brazilian audience

As a result, Black Sailors gained over 1200 wishlists during Gamescom 2026 and the developers obtained precise feedback on narrative, gameplay, UX/UI, visuals and more.

Supporting culturally bold games

This collaboration reflects what we want Narratify to stand for: supporting games that tell African and diasporic stories not only when they face backlash, but throughout their journey toward finding an audience.

It also connects directly to our Backlash Preparedness Workshop, through which we help game studios, publishers and community teams anticipate cultural backlash, understand polarized audience reactions and better prepare their projects and teams.

Black Sailors: Bay of All Saints shows why this work matters. Games can challenge the perspectives we've inherited, restore overlooked histories and give creators the space to tell stories from their own point of view.

Wishlist Black Sailors: Bay of All Saints on Steam and follow Mandinga Games' journey toward release.

In Tiago's words

“Narratify came into our path at the moment we needed it the most, right when the game was facing the backlash. Their advice, and the fact that they spoke publicly about the game, was a massive boost of strength and courage at a time when it was hard to keep going. That support was very important for us to move forward with the project.

I couldn't travel to Gamescom Cologne, but their team ran the booth for us anyway, played the game with visitors and brought all of that back to us. It was the first time we heard how people outside Brazil read our game, and that turned out to be an important step for our development. Having that kind of support has meant a lot to us.”