The Mayor of Valencia, Mª José Catalá, accompanied by the Councilor for Innovation, Tourism and Investment Acquisition, Paula Llobet, inaugurated Valencia gambling cityLa Harinera space dedicated to video games and e-sports, a space that also aims to attract foreign investment, international projects and consolidate local talent in the video game industry.
In addition, the new space aims to transfer the municipal leagues in the different districts with the aim of involving neighbors and promoting citizen participation in the technology industry, promoting the presence of women in the sector and connecting with the world of tourism, among other objectives.
In this sense, the mayor, Maria José Cataláannounced that Valencia “will celebrate the first municipal e-sports league and where neighborhoods and districts will compete. Finals will be reached and will generate an e-sports competition in the city. We will also generate a lot of content related to well-being and health because this area is experiencing a technological development that positively influences many areas.
Catalá indicated that the inauguration of the space of the flour mill This is “very important because, from the beginning of the legislature, we have given great importance to promoting the technology industry and, more specifically, the gaming technology industry. We made a decision, which is coming to fruition today, and it is the Valencia Game City, which is a physical cluster, and we will have its space here.
The mayor stressed that the new space “will allow startup accelerator and we will help them in their internationalization. Right now, we have 30 emerging companies here that are developing their product and, by the end of 2025, we will double that number and reach 60. It is a fundamental sector because there is a lot of creativity, a lot of musicians, a lot of know-how behind the video game industry. And in the Valencian Community, in addition, we have very good professionals.
According to María José Catalá, “this sector is important because it represents the future of the city of Valencia and because 48% of the industry is made up of women. It is a sector with a very balanced female proportion and one of the first startups that we will have here is a female startup, which They aligned the game with tourism“.
During the presentation of Valencia Game City, the participants were able to visit the facilities that house different projects, among which the PC ProGaming Spacepresentation of the Municipal E-sports Leagues with the participation of local clubs such as Ramboot and Oxygen Gaming, the Racing Simulation Space in collaboration with the Ricard Tormo Circuit where innovative projects will be explored in Sim Racing, the Project Incubator Space for the presentation of the acceleration program for gaming, gamification and virtual reality companies and the Exhibition and digital art exhibition on the theme of Sorolla and video games, coordinated by María Tinoco, who is also the coordinator of Valencia Game City.
To close the event, a professional day was held with two round tables entitled “Video games as a driver of health and well-being” and “Presentation of the Support Plan for the internationalization of Valencian video game companies”.
Valencia Capital of Innovation
The Valencia Innovation Capital strategy of the Department of Innovation aims to promote a dynamic, diverse and creative city to be the reference technological innovation center in the Mediterranean. This strategy promotes public-private collaboration, aims to be a catalyst for the city’s technological innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and seeks to generate quality and highly qualified jobs in Valencia.
Valencia Innovation Capital is committed to solving real city problems through narrow, effective innovation that directly impacts people’s lives.
