New Video Game Lets Africans Imagine Taking Back Looted Treasures

Released this week, the game blends speculative fiction, political commentary and stealth-mission strategy, allowing players to take on the role of African experts who decide to retrieve stolen artefacts after Western museums backtrack on repatriation promises.

A heist story with a purpose

Relooted is set in 2099, where the Transatlantic Returns Treaty—an agreement requiring Western institutions to return looted African artefacts—is falling apart. Museums in Europe and the US have begun exploiting loopholes, sending valuable objects into storage to avoid returning them.

Frustrated, artefact specialist Prof Grace enlists her grandchildren, Nomali and Trevor, and her former student Etienne to take matters into their own hands.

The story begins in an abandoned warehouse in Johannesburg, where the group plans high-stakes missions to retrieve African heritage scattered across the world.

Not criminals — but cultural defenders

Unlike traditional heist games:

There is no cash reward

The protagonists have no criminal background

Their motivation is reparation, not profit

Every mission is shaped by shifting treaty loopholes

Nomali, a sports scientist, becomes the lead strategist and the main playable character. She collaborates with specialists from across South Africa and the continent to outsmart museum security systems and navigate political obstacles.

A commentary on the real-world repatriation debate

For decades, African nations have demanded the return of:

Benin Bronzes

Sacred spiritual objects

Royal regalia

Cultural artefacts taken during military expeditions and colonial rule

Western museums have been slow and selective in repatriation efforts — something the game satirises through the fictional treaty and the absurdity of museums hiding objects in storage to evade obligations.

By imagining a future where African experts reclaim stolen history, the game taps into ongoing cultural justice conversations.

Why Relooted matters

It introduces African-futurism into mainstream gaming

It reframes repatriation as a heroic mission

It gives African characters agency as intellectual, strategic protagonists

It engages global audiences with debates about looted heritage

Rather than telling a story of helplessness, Relooted imagines Africans reclaiming power, identity and culture — on their own terms.