Barcelona likes to play. This is demonstrated by its ecosystem linked to video games, its participation in international competitions, and also its role in more traditional but equally popular formats, such as board games. It is in this context that Devir's activity is framed, a multinational based in Barcelona for a quarter of a century and which has a catalog of more than 300 board games. Among them, iconic titles such as Catan or Carcassonne stand out, and hundreds of its own production, many of which have been licensed worldwide.
The multinational publisher, with operational headquarters in Barcelona and belonging to a group of Brazilian origin, invoiced 17 million euros last year, which implied an increase of 12% compared to the previous year. For this year, it foresees a growth also around 10% in this division of games with a Barcelona seal, with figures boosted in part by players who entered this field during the pandemic. Despite the Brazilian origin of the group, "strategic decisions and creative decisions in the games division are made globally from the Barcelona office," as highlighted by Devir's International Communication Manager, Benja Amorín.
Globally, Devir has nine offices around the world, totaling 200 employees. Specifically, the Catalan capital has a staff of 30 professionals, including prominent executives of the company: "Most of its global figures operate from Barcelona". To continue growing from the city, Devir has recently changed offices in Barcelona, and has relocated to Muntaner street with Via Augusta. "The company is constantly growing," Amorín remarks. In fact, the group as a whole has maintained an annual growth rate of 20% since 2020.
The origin of Devir is located in Brazil in 1987, when a group of American comic book fans decided to park their careers as computer engineers for what was then their hobby. The company began by publishing comics and collectible card games, and soon opened an office in Barcelona. It was there that a decisive commitment was made to board games.
"The board game division has been growing from the city, and has become a main activity of the company", highlights Amorín. "Since then, we have been creating board and role-playing games from the city for 25 years". The multinational firm will celebrate these 25 years of activity as a board game publisher from Barcelona with a program of activities, among which an event with the creators of the company's most representative board games, such as those of Carcassonne and Sushi go, stands out.
Recently, the company has added a new game to its catalog, which precisely features Barcelona as one of its protagonists. Under the name of Cities, the game represents "a very strong editorial bet, as it is accessible to all types of public", which will allow progress in the group's growth and internationalization, according to Amorín.
The game consists of improving one of the great cities of the world, Barcelona among them. "The player becomes an architectural master who must urbanize one of the eight cities in the game", explains Amorín. The city for each game is chosen randomly from the Catalan capital, Sydney, Venice, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires.
"All are representative cities for Devir": New York and Sydney come from the cities of residence of the two game creators, Steve Finn, Phil Walker-Harding, while others have company offices, and Barcelona stands out as the epicenter of the firm's game creation. With short games, lasting an average of half an hour, players must build the city according to the characteristics set by the game: New York, for example, likes skyscrapers; Barcelona, the ramblas.
Precisely a few meters from La Rambla, Devir will present this Tuesday its new board game, which allows living the experience of being a 70s rock star. Players are transported to the golden age of rock through rehearsals, concerts, and band promotion to lead it to stardom. Under the name of Rock Hard 1977, the game was created by Jackie Fox, former bassist of The Runaways, the first all-female rock band that made people dance to songs like Cherry Bomb.
The game will be presented at the Guitar Legends Hall and also at DAU Barcelona. The festival, which will be held at Fabra i Coats this weekend with free access, will invite people to play board and traditional games but also new proposals. In its thirteenth edition, the event aims to consolidate itself as the benchmark for board games not only in the city, but beyond, exploring new horizons and formats, from Barcelona.