Red Raketa Studio Explains The Madagascar Soul Inside Kalanoro
Red Raketa Studio, an indie team based in Madagascar, spoke to Automaton and Game Spark in a joint email interview about Kalanoro, the 3D action adventure Sega released on September 24 for PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
2 sources 46m ago
Reporting from 2 sources: Automaton, Game Spark.
Why it matters
Red Raketa Studio says it cannot even count the number of active game developers in Madagascar, which makes a four-platform retail release from an eight-person local team a concrete data point for a local scene the interview describes as small, informal and difficult to quantify.
Key Facts
- Sega released Red Raketa Studio's Kalanoro on September 24 for PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
- Red Raketa Studio was founded in Madagascar in 2021 with three people and grew to eight core members during Kalanoro's development.
- About ten additional Madagascar-based creators and freelancers contributed to Kalanoro in animation, 3D production, concept art, UI, sound design and music.
- PlayStation Store lists Kalanoro at 25 percent off, priced at 2,228 yen including tax in one interview and 2,227 yen in the other, with the sale running until November 20 at 23:59.
- Red Raketa Studio said the radio song "Lemuria Banana" became a particularly popular track from the Kalanoro soundtrack.
The studio was founded in 2021 with three people and grew to eight core members during development, with roughly ten additional Madagascar-based freelancers credited across animation, 3D production, concept art, UI, sound design and music. Kalanoro takes place in Lemuria, a fantasy island inspired by Madagascar, where the protagonist Karakely uses her hair as a weapon and recruits lemur musicians into a band. The villain Raneny pursues industrialization, a conflict the team describes as a dramatized version of development versus nature. The taxi-brousse shared bus became the band's tour vehicle after narrative designer Dina proposed it in place of an earlier village management system.
Karakely's hair is the main weapon, and the studio tied it to the folklore. The kalanoro is described in Malagasy folklore as a small, hairy being with mysterious powers, sometimes linked to good fortune. Karakely buys special shampoos that grant new moves: Hairpoon hooks an enemy and pulls her toward it, Static Rocks delivers an electric shock, and Chaos Wig covers an enemy's head with hair so it attacks its allies.
Game Spark asked about local details. Baobabs, ravinara and raketa mena appear in the environments, alongside architectural styles, traditional clothing and lambahoany textiles. Players cook ravitoto, koba and menakely for the lemur musicians. The driver and guide Mille-Clément is named after Mily Clément, a Malagasy artist.
Reactions since launch vary. The soundtrack drew praise, and "Lemuria Banana" became a popular track on the in-game radio. Players also discover they can hit enemies with a flip-flop, and throw it.
On the local scene, the studio said many developers work other jobs, so an exact count of active developers is hard to give. Popular titles include:
- Free Fire, PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends: the mobile titles most players connect through.
- EA Sports FC and eFootball: soccer games popular at tournaments.
- Tekken: the fighting series named as popular.
- Dota 2 and League of Legends: the competitive PC titles with a dedicated community.
Game Spark gives a release date of September 24, 2026 and lists PC, PS5 and Nintendo Switch; Automaton lists the same date and adds Xbox Series X|S. The PlayStation Store sale is 25% off, at 2,228 yen in Automaton and 2,227 yen in Game Spark, running until November 20 at 23:59 in the Game Spark listing.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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