The 'gaming' industry occupies 40,000 square meters of office space in Barcelona

The rise of the gaming business in Barcelona, with the appearance of new companies and the establishment of foreign firms, has left its mark on the real estate sector with the contracting of new offices. According to data from the real estate consultancy CBRE, last year companies dedicated to electronic games or video games occupied 40,000 square meters of offices in the Catalan capital, especially in the 22@ area.

In this sector, one of the most resilient during the pandemic, various real estate operations have been registered, among which it is worth highlighting the South Korean firm Smilegate ---creator of the popular Crossfire---, which has moved its offices to one of the floors of Torre Glòries; Scopely, with 2,400 square meters in the Barcelona district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi ---in addition to the spaces occupied by its affiliates Omnidrone and Scopely Parallel---; and the Danish IO Interactive which rented 2,400 square meters on Calle Enrique Granados. This context shows that "Barcelona is well positioned in this industry," said the director of CBRE Barcelona, Xavier Güell, within the framework of the Tendencias 2022 event.

According to CBRE data, globally, gaming currently moves 161,000 million euros, slightly below the 200,000 million euros generated by the largest entertainment sector, television. However, data points to an exponential growth of the electronic games or video games industry in the coming years, matching television figures in 2024.

The consultancy has reported that the technology sector, as a whole, has been responsible for contracting 50% of office square meters rented in the city, with about 200,000 square meters, and represents 70% of the contracting carried out by technology companies in Spain during 2021.

In comparison with the rest of European cities, Barcelona has reached the first position among European cities with the most exposure to the technology sector, climbing steps from the seventh position it occupied in 2017. Thus, the city leads the ranking of cities with the highest exposure to the technology sector with (48%), ahead of Amsterdam (37%), Dublin (31%), Bucharest (29%) and London (29%).

Apart from the existence of 22@ as a pole of attraction for the technology sector, another key element is the level of rental and purchase incomes. Despite being one of the European cities where prices have increased the most in the last six years, Barcelona remains very competitive in terms of office rents. CBRE predicts that the city will maintain significant increases in the coming years.