The Spanish video game foresees to rival in invoicing with the book sector in 2021 | Blog 1 UP
Although the photo is almost identical to last year's - the fabric of the Spanish video game is still mostly precarious: 88% of companies bill less than two million euros, 74% employ less than 10 people and the 90% seeks funding-, the general message that transpires from the Spanish video game industry is optimistic. The Spanish videogame aims to invoice 1,630 million euros, according to the data of the yearbook presented this morning at the ICEX headquarters with the presence of the Ministers of Industry and Culture. That is to say, it would already be close to what moves the book sector, the solo leader of the Spanish cultural industries with a turnover in 2017 of 2319.36 million euros. With an essential difference, the book is stuck in its growth and the Spanish video game aims to maintain an annual growth of 23% over the next three years.
Already from his rostrum, The White Paper on the Spanish development of videogames 2018 -Developed by the Spanish Association of Production Companies and Developers of Video Games and Entertainment Software (DEV) and presented this morning at the ICEX headquarters with the presence of the Ministers of Culture and Industry-, calls for optimism: A new golden age of the Spanish video game is the title chosen by Luis Quintans, president of DEV, to define the moment in which this industry lives. A series of successful launches, both critical and public from last year, have contributed to this, especially in the independent sector: Do Not Feed the Monkeys, Moonlighter, They are billions and above all the great international success that has been Gray they have supposed triumphs for the Spanish video game. All of them, yes, distributed internationally by a foreign company.
In person in the case of Guirao and in deferred, from Mexico, in the case of Maroto, the Ministers of Culture and Industry supported the event with their presence. "Like film or literature, videogames transmit values and culture and provoke emotions, but also, it is a key entertainment channel for young people, and I therefore call for the ethical dimension to be a central axis of this industry. instill good values to our youngest citizens, "said José Guirao, Minister of Culture, Education and Sports. "This industry is one of the innovative sectors that drive the national economy, Spain is called to be a world leader in this sector," said Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
Main threats for the Spanish video game
• Failure of most startups and small companies (indie studios).
• The lack of investment capital with a vocation for permanence puts at risk medium-sized studios that are dedicated to financing new projects with their own resources.
• Insufficient job offer to absorb the next generation of graduate and master's degree graduates, which will generate frustration and a possible fall in the demand for training.
• Relocation of the largest and most successful studies in other countries with a more complete and favorable ecosystem.
• Lost of the talent of our best creatives and professionals, who are attracted by foreign projects.
• Frustration of investors, who would go to other sectors or to other countries.
According The White Paper on the Spanish development of videogames 2018.
Guirao also highlighted the ministry's plan to "normalize" the social and cultural dimension of the video game, using it as an informative tool to change the negative connotations that the media has been dragging in its media portrait. "We have to transform how citizens view the sector, I am talking about a cultural transformation, the general public sees the videogame with rejection, relating it to violence or addiction, my role and that of the ministry is symbolic and we are available to this sector to change that image. " Guirao recalled the impact of his presence at the German Gamescom fair (cover of this newspaper) as an "instrument" for this purpose of cultural face washing.
If the hood of the Spanish videogame industry is raised, the doubts that this newspaper has been in your analyzes of this yearbook. The first concerns billing. The sector continues to accelerate its growth (the interannual is 15.7%), but the study indicates that the majority of turnover is absorbed by large companies, as well as 59% of new hires. And these large companies, although the yearbook does not list them, include branches of large international companies such as King (Candy Crush), Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed) or Electronic Arts (FIFA). Very few companies of the Spanish label - the Andalusian Genera and the Madrid Mercury Steam are two examples - have more than 50 employees. Guirao highlighted in his speech that, in his opinion, this problem is the crucial one that the sector must overcome: "Micro-enterprises are very good to start with, but they are not a future horizon." The small ones are good to start, the medium ones to resist. in times of crisis, but those that generate stability and future are the big ones. "
More encouraging is the data of active companies. The past yearbook marked the breakdown of the expansion in the number of Spanish videogame companies: they disappeared 30. 2018 gives a pyrrhic balance of 5 more companies up to a total of 455 active. But the report repeats again that this is a natural and necessary process due to the excess of companies that afflicts the sector. On page 53, a very revealing chart compares by countries the number of companies and the turnover they generate. Its sector being much more populous (455 compared to 343), a Spanish company generates three times less than a Swedish company. The comparison with countries like France, the United States or Canada is also sidereal: Spain generates four times less wealth per company than those cited.
Surprise and much, yes, see it ahead of Poland, country that owns one of the most powerful European companies of the present: CD Projekt and not a few independent first level studies. For example, 11 bits (This War of Mine, Frostpunk), as well publisher [equivalente a la distribuidora cinematográfica] from one of the highlights of the year: Moonlighter
By communities, the leadership of the Spanish video game continues unabated. Catalonia is the leading region, followed by Madrid. But movement is noticed in almost all the autonomous communities. Only Cantabria does not register active studies dedicated to the development of video games. There are interesting paradoxes. Andalusia, one of the most punished communities by unemployment, is the fourth creative power of Spain, almost doubling the Basque Country. Valencia keeps its third place, hunting for the two big ones. Galicia, Asturias, Castilla y León or Murcia register a notorious presence. In general, apart from the leading regions, the fever to create videogames is represented as a national symptom.
