-In this fifth edition, the intensive program reformulates its bases by expanding the platforms, the business model to be developed among the participants and prioritizing its Basque origin 

-From 1 July to 1 August, the five teams selected among 13 proposals will receive training and personalized advice to develop and present their video game projects at Gamescom, the most important European fair in the sector 

-The video game sector expects to generate 1,987 million euros this year and 1,098 direct jobs in Spain 

Two Basque teams, two Catalans and one from Zaragoza take part in the GAME.EUS video game accelerator campus, which runs from Monday 1 July to 1 August in Vitoria-Gasteiz. In this fifth edition, the intensive program culminates the four years of experience of F2P Campus and becomes a firm commitment to the creation and retention of local talent and the promotion of the video game sector in Araba and Euskadi.

As a result of this new approach, GAME.EUS expands the platforms, the business model to be developed among the participants and prioritizes its Basque origin. Precisely, two of the five teams, selected among the thirteen budgets presented, are integrated by Basque creators – from Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao- while the rest of the groups correspond to Catalan developers and from Zaragoza.

This initiative, promoted by the Provincial Council of Alava and the Basque Government, under the direction of the EUNEIZ Foundation, increases with this new approach the efforts to position the Basque Country as a center of talent and driver of the video game industry. The Deputy for Economic Development and Sustainability, Saray Zárate, the Deputy Minister for Culture, Andoni Iturbe, the President of EUNEIZ University, Jordi Roche and the Executive Director of GAME.EUS, This morning, David Darnés welcomed the five teams that make up the campus this year. The program, coordinated by BIC Araba, is also sponsored by the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the EUNEIZ University, whose headquarters hosts this campus for the third consecutive year.

The Deputy for Economic Development and Sustainability, Saray Zárate, has assured that “This campus is a reflection of the strong commitment of the Álava Provincial Council for the video game sector, clearly expanding and very aligned with our values as a territory: innovation, talent and creativity”.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Andoni Iturbe, said that the Basque Government is committed to promoting creative talent and creating new opportunities for personal, community and territorial development. He also emphasised the importance of the video game sector in new modes of communication, mainly among the younger population and this implies “an opportunity to work with high added value content that helps us to grow in values as well,” he said. Finally, the deputy counselor concluded by emphasizing the importance of cooperation and agreement between institutions with the aim of creating spaces of reference and generating new knowledge that will place us at the forefront. 

From the University EUNEIZ, Jordi Roche, has highlighted the commitment of the University of New Technologies, Sport and Health that, since this year, through the EUNEIZ Foundation, assumes the direction of this intensive program with the objective of “sharing knowledge and professional experience” to consolidate the video game ecosystem in the Basque Country. “This is an emerging sector that can have an important journey in this territory, as it has had in Catalonia, in terms of employment and economic growth”. Roughly, the President of EUNEIZ stressed the “opportunity” of this campus to make a “qualitative leap” to teams that have the creative tools and knowledge, but “need that plus of professionalization to develop successfully in this sector”. In this sense, he recalled that the University also contributes to the creation of talent with two degrees in video games -Degree in Art for Video Games and Degree in Design and Development of Video Games that open the door to artist profiles, video game designer or programmer. “We want to be a shuttle for future professionals in the industry and consolidate existing ones. This campus is a perfect formula to link training with the labour market or entrepreneurship and do it with the best guarantees,” he concluded.

It is necessary to remember that the video game sector has considerably more favorable growth forecasts than other cultural and creative industries, since, according to the White Paper on Spanish Video Game Development 2022 This year it is expected to bill 1,897 million euros and this figure will increase to 2,239 million in 2025. In terms of employment, the forecast is that the sector will generate 1,098 direct jobs in Spain this year. In the case of the Basque Country, it should be noted that, of the 760 video games studios in the State in 2022, only 4% are located in the CAV.

As David Darnés explained, the main objective of this program is to prepare teams of Basque developers who have a video game advanced enough to participate in Gamescom, the largest and most important fair in the sector in Europe. In front of the F2P Campus, which revolved exclusively around the creation of video games in which it is not necessary to pay to play, GAME.EUS opens to any platform and business model (mobile, PC/Console, Free-to-Play, Premium…) expanding opportunities for teams and getting closer to the actual functioning of the video game industry.

Among the mentors, experts with great experience in the video game industry and with participation in projects of international dimension, include professionals such as Oscar Sahun, entrepreneur, designer and video game producer, Gerard Fernández, entrepreneur, investor and video game developer, Ignacio Marín, producer and Game Manager of Gameloft, Arturo Monedero, vice president of AEVI (Spanish Video Game Association), professor at EUNEIZ, entrepreneur and video game designer, Sandra Samper, Academic Director of EUNEIZ Video Game Degrees and Expert in Business Development and Video Games, Sergi Manaut, Elevator Pitch and Public Speaking Coach, Antonio Santo, Founder of Jaleo PR and Content Director of the BIG Conference, and finally, David Darnés, director of this campus, entrepreneur, consultant and mentor of video games and technology. In addition to mentoring, these experts will offer “mixers” open to citizens in order to bring closer and dignify this sector in society.

After five weeks of work, GAME.EUS will end on August 1 with the celebration of Demo Day, where the five teams will present their projects to publishers, investors and professionals in the sector. It will be the first step before going to Gamescom, one of the most influential fairs in the world, which will give them the opportunity to showcase their work, establish key contacts and explore new opportunities for collaboration and growth.

 

The names of the teams and gender to which the projects participating in this fifth edition belong are the following:

• Dhelpra Games (Barcelona): Nomad Defender is a video game where you wake up in a gloomy room in which you are imprisoned. Only by winning an enigmatic tower defense, roguelike, deckbuilder can you unravel the secrets that lie in the shadows of this installation.
• Can Pixel (Barcelona): They present Catcelona, the video game that tries to find 300 very real cats that hide. ¡ A 2D black and white experience that promises peace of mind and fun in equal parts!
• Gaua Games (Bilbao): Darby Is Here Forever is a 2D pixel art video game about a nice vampire.
• Sidral Games (Zaragoza): Enchufao is an arcade game, 2D space shooter genre, with pixel art aesthetic, roguelike elements and cable resource management.”
• Ametz Games (Vitoria-Gasteiz): Detective Firefly is a video game genre detectives, with narrative puzzles that take you into an interactive adventure in which you decide the end.