Announcements from video game companies deciding to set up a development studio in Barcelona are constantly happening. The Chinese company NetEase Games has been the latest to do so with the opening of a studio in the Catalan capital, the third it has launched in Europe, after those in Paris and Manchester. This investment joins those of other companies in the sector such as Funplus, Rovio, IO Interactive, Scopely, Paradox, Games for Living (G4AL) or the American multinational Activision Blizzard, which bought Barcelona-based Digital Legends.
The constant trickle is accompanied by figures that speak for themselves. According to a study by Acció, Catalonia is the leading region in the European Union in attracting foreign investment in the video game sector. Specifically, in the last five years, it has attracted more than 20 new projects that have involved an investment of more than 120 million euros and the creation of almost 900 jobs.
To these figures, Pasqual Batalla, executive at Socialpoint and one of the people who best knows the sector in Barcelona, adds that "Spain represents between the 10th and 13th position worldwide in video game revenue, but the curious fact is that half of this revenue is produced in Catalonia, where half of the jobs are also concentrated." He said this in a new session of the cycle The New Barcelona – Moments Estel·lars, moderated by journalist and UPF-BSM professor Toni Aira and organized by The New Barcelona Post with the collaboration of CASA SEAT, Must Media Group and Barcelona Global.
Batalla was accompanied by Montse Puig, with extensive experience in the world of video games after having worked for companies such as Akamon and Tangelo Games. Currently, she is the CEO of Barcelona & Partners, Barcelona Global's investment attraction agency.
"Barcelona has strengths that make all this happen. The first is a very good network of universities and schools, even video game schools, which has combined with a network of startups and technology companies that have helped develop this local talent. Then, we have to add a second strength, the ability to attract talent from outside," Batalla explained.
"Talent attracts talent," Puig continued. "The people here started developing games and talent has been created. Furthermore, it is an industry that not only creates talent for the world of gaming, but afterwards many initiatives emerge that pull other industries towards here," he pointed out, as has happened with gamification in its leap to education. "We have also been pioneers in developing university degrees, for example, in Game Design, which is very necessary for companies in the sector," he concluded.
For this reason, Batalla has advocated for continuing to strengthen the training capacity of the Catalan capital. "It is a sector with very multidisciplinary jobs and there are few people who can do them," he warned. "If we want to be a hub of gaming at a global level, and if this is about talent, why can't we also be a hub in training video game talent at a global level?" he argued.
But not only must the network of universities and schools dedicated to training professionals for a leading sector in the city be strengthened, Barcelona must also continue to be put on the map: "Why can't we have an international event that helps attract the best professionals to visit our home and see that there is a lot of industry here and it is a very good place to grow?". For her part, Puig has advocated for making local companies gain strength to continue competing with other international hubs: "I would like to see gaming unicorns born in Barcelona. That would mean that we have managed to root value, we know how to scale it and do it well."
According to Batalla, in Spain there are 30 million people who play video games, of which more than 50% are women. Worldwide, 3 billion players are counted. The sector, he continues, will keep growing considering that the audience is expected to grow in the coming years, with the generalization of mobile use in countries like India and Brazil. It will also influence, the expert added, that technology will continue to improve and offer a more fun experience, in addition to the fact that new generations, born among screens, will take over and change the creative focus. "In the next ten years there will be very strong growth in this industry," an opportunity that Barcelona cannot miss.
The two speakers of the session wanted to convey to the audience the relevance of a sector they have defined as "an intersection between art, technology, and entertainment". "We are very happy that a voice is given to an industry that moves more than 184,000 million dollars and that is three times larger than the film and music industries combined," Batalla and Puig asserted, after pointing out that the business volume of gaming is also 60% higher than that of book publishing.
The CEO of Barcelona & Partners explained that it is necessary to continue working to attract new video game companies to Barcelona, but specified that the challenge "is for decision-making centers to be established here" and for local value to be created. Batalla acknowledged that in the last fifteen years in the city "good work has been done" and highlighted the role of entities such as Acció, 22@, Barcelona Activa, or the Department of Culture of the Generalitat. The MWC has also helped the take-off and consolidation of the gaming sector.
This expert, however, has demanded "to be even more demanding" and "to coordinate all the actors of the ecosystem so that they go in the same direction." To facilitate the attraction of more companies, he also asks to equalize the corporate tax paid by video game companies to that of other creative sectors such as cinema and performing arts. "If we aspire to be a world hub in gaming, there is still much to do," he reflected.
Pasqual Batalla: "If we aspire to be a world hub in gaming, there is still much to do"Montse Puig, who also highlighted the Growing importance of e-sports in Barcelona, has agreed with Batalla that "we cannot fall asleep" and that there is still much to do. However, he has boasted about the fact that 40% of the video game companies in the world already have a headquarters in Barcelona. "We have many strengths," he concluded.
Montse Puig: "40% of the video game companies in the world already have a headquarters in Barcelona"Finally, Batalla has insisted on the need to position Barcelona as a hubin talent training for the industry of thegamingand demands a greater incorporation of female talent. One of the challenges is "to shorten the gap" between the completion of university studies and the incorporation of younger talent into companies in the sector which, habitually, demand profiles with certain experience. "Companies must launch programs to incorporate these recent graduates, but there are other ways, such as facilitating that final degree projects are done within incubators and also opening a line of subsidies so that all this young talent can publish the games they have designed," he gave as examples.
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https://open.spotify.com/episode/4XbCgnXwPOtbN6IX8tSMyM
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