The video game sector is growing. This is not a statement thrown into the air or based on the number of games and hours of play any user can accumulate. The data says it: the turnover of this industry throughout the country increased by more than 16% in 2023, according to the directory of the Spanish Video Game Association (AEVI). And the Community refuses to let this opportunity pass, which is why its businessmen have been working as “allies” for some time to claim a place in this emerging sector and, just a few weeks ago, the Video Game Industry Association of Castilla y León (Asivi).
‘We traveled a lot to see the industry of ‘game“in the Peninsula and we have the feeling that people are waging war alone,” explains its president, Iván Gómez. He claims that there are currently two major studios dedicated to video games in the Community, one in Valladolid – Daloar, formerly called Pentakill – and another in the town of Zamora, Valcabado, Gamez Studio, of which he himself is CEO or director. director. “We want them to believe in our project and we believe that we should not face Zamora and Valladolid, but rather go together,” he said.
It is for this reason that the two studies came together within an association which seeks synergies between them and institutional support and to which some have also joined. independent programmers, animators and creators. “For the moment, there are nine but they say that by June we want to reach a hundred members,” he confides.
They have already obtained the complicity of Valladolid City Hall to establish the recently inaugurated complex. Digital Content Technological Laboratory in the capital of Pisuerga; or that of the Council to prepare the “CyL Game Show”, an event which hopes to bring together more than 20,000 people in Zamora next March and which, if consolidated, aspires to be held each time in a province “to reflect this spirit of unity”. This event is also a “strong bet” for Asivi: “We want to place it among the major eSports events that players and partners come to and make it a video game celebration,” he specifies.
“The industry of Castile and León is fundamentally made up of the agri-food sector, tourism and the automotive sector, but we want to give it another dimension,” says Gómez. The question is whether video games can gain momentum in the Community, something the president of Asivi is optimistic about. “Growth is driven by two things: creators and sales,” he says. In this sense, “the talent is there in Castilla y León”, he observes, since the educational offer In terms of autonomy, it lays a good foundation, with university degrees such as computer engineering or video game design and professional training qualifications in video game development or 3D animation.
Digital nomads
In addition, Gómez believes that the Community “has everything for digital nomads”: tranquility and quality of life can make the Castilian and Leonese lands an attractive place for profiles who work remotely and online. In the company he founded in 2023 with his partner Jordi Mesa, he there are twelve workerssaid, and they have three lines: an educational one (Dok Student AI), another for “casual” video games (Dîrok, Blocks Challenge and Emoji Connect) and a third for what they call the “silver population”, which includes people with dementia. or recovering from a stroke.
Perhaps it is necessary to convince consumers who might view this entertainment sector with suspicion. “I come from a generation in which those of us who went to the arcades were strange,” smiles Gómez, contrasting with the fact that today there are “kids who win thousands of euros while playing. And this is why he considers that the creation ofThe White Paper of good practices which is coordinated with the Council will be a step forward in setting limitsbut also promote virtues, such as encouraging reflexes or communication between players. “Video games are neither good nor bad, it all depends on how we use them,” he observes.
