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Final week we hosted the Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona, bringing the convention to Spain for the primary time.
The present was an enormous success, drawing greater than 1,000 attendees from 47 international locations, representing over 520 firms.
Talking on the occasion have been representatives from a number of the world’s greatest cell video games publishers, together with Scopely, King, FunPlus, Rovio, Bandai Namco, Homa, Tilting Level, and lots of extra.
Now that the mud has settled after two days of insightful periods and networking, I’ve listed a few of my key takeaways from the present under.
For extra info on the Barcelona video games scene, you’ll be able to obtain our free area report proper right here.
- A key cell video games trade hub
I already named the publishers above, but it surely’s price repeating simply how lots of the world’s large video games firms have arrange store in Barcelona and Spain at giant.
The Catalonia capital is house to one of many nation’s greatest native success tales in Socialpoint. The studio has labored on titles together with Dragon Metropolis and Monster Legends, finally attracting the overtures of Take-Two, which acquired the corporate for $250 million in 2017.
Sweet Crush developer King has constructed up a big presence within the metropolis, using a whole bunch of workers.
In the meantime, it has grow to be Monopoly Go developer Scopely’s largest video games hub, using greater than 1,000 employeesin the nation. The corporate has made key acquisitions within the area, together with Omnidrone, GSN Video games, and Genjoy.
Talking to PocketGamer.biz, Scopely director of operations Néstor Pequeño mentioned its presence has been inspired by Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira, a local Spaniard.
The developer now runs quite a lot of features together with advertising and marketing, improvement help, analytics, enterprise intelligence and extra in a foreign country, making it an integral a part of its world operations.
Then after all Bandai Namco, Sandsoft, FunPlus, Homa, Tilting Level and others have arrange store within the nation.
It’ll be fascinating to see over the following few years what the output is of those large firms from the area and whether or not there shall be new profitable titles that emerge from the investments made.
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Direct-to-consumer
For every of the large occasions I’ve attended over the previous 18 months or so, one of many high tendencies has been internet outlets and direct-to-consumer methods. It’s a fast-moving house because the Digital Markets Act is picked away on the App Retailer’s insurance policies, whereas Apple has fought again.
Forward of PGC Barcelona, the landmark ruling from a US choose has cracked open the shop for different funds within the nation, resulting in the return of Fortnite. The subject was naturally excessive on the agenda on the present – the topic of DTC was mentioned extensively on the Powering Funds and Unlocking Webshops with Xsolla tracks.
The important thing gamers have been all on the town, with Xsolla and Appcharge each internet hosting events.
Publishers are more and more diving in with full power, with some considerations lingering over how lengthy this would possibly final given Apple’s historical past of adjusting the foundations and its ongoing attraction. Although the choose within the Epic Video games vs. Apple case and the European Fee are more and more adamant: cease making an attempt to bypass the legislation and regulation.
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AI hype
DTC appeared like a much bigger subject of dialog from my chats with builders, however AI was one other key theme of the present.
We held the Sensible AI observe on day one, adopted by AI Advances periods on the second day.
One notably fascinating session got here from The AI Guys’ co-CEO and CTO Ken Noland, who mentioned re-creating the unique X-COM from scratch utilizing AI instruments. I’ve beforehand written in regards to the speak right here (and we’ll have a video within the coming weeks on the PocketGamer.biz YouTube channel). It was an eye-opening take a look at what’s attainable proper now, in addition to what’s not attainable.
Noland did away with the hype and gave an sincere evaluation of the very best instruments for the job. He beforehand mentioned AI tech doesn’t even remotely stay as much as the hype because the instruments nonetheless require an skilled engineer to make use of and steer. Nevertheless, he was nonetheless in a position to construct an engine in simply three months with the help of such tech.
There have been different sensible examples of using AI in video games too through the present, with UA professional Claire Rozain discussing utilising AI for advert creatives.
For extra on how video games firms are harnessing AI tech proper now, take a look at this session from PGC San Francisco by Rovio senior artwork director Tatu Petersen-Jessen on how the Indignant Birds developer has harnessed it for recreation artwork and advertising and marketing.
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Tips on how to get your recreation printed in China in 2025
MyGamez CRO Thorbjorn Warin gave a step-by-step information to getting your recreation printed in China throughout his speak at PGC Barcelona.
A number of the guidelines are well-known: all video games require a government-issued ISBN, that are solely given to Chinese language firms – so publishers will want a neighborhood companion to launch a recreation.
Extra normal IT rules imply that every one knowledge should be saved inside China and can’t be accessed or exported exterior of the nation.
“You’ve acquired to suppose in your toes whenever you’re in China,” mentioned Warin, on the subject of compliance with these guidelines.
Warin went by a number of the content material restrictions in place within the nation that may forestall a recreation getting approval for launch. Two examples embody: video games can not have a personality with a visual scar on their face, whereas they’re additionally not allowed to have pink eyes.
For builders making video games like Sweet Crush Saga and Royal Match, nonetheless, Warin mentioned these are unlikely to return throughout notable points.
Beforehand, builders trying to launch their recreation in China may withstand a two-year wait. Warin mentioned, nonetheless, that time-to-market can now realistically be accomplished in 9 to 12 months, with an ISBN permitted in six.
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The net video games revolution?
Net gaming was as soon as an enormous a part of the trade. Then, because of Fb’s shift away from browser video games that caught even FarmVille developer Zynga off guard, in addition to the dying of Flash, a variety of publishers shifted away from the house.
However now there’s a push to convey it again. CrazyGames partnership supervisor Rabia Dincer mentioned that the corporate has 40 million MAUs for its internet platform, with greater than 300m month-to-month gameplays and three,000+ builders on board. She additionally claimed a lot of its rising viewers is primarily based in tier one international locations.
Round 75% of gamers they see are on desktop, although the cell internet is “rising a lot sooner now”. She additionally claimed Chinese language builders, which already construct video games for the likes of WeChat Minigames, are increasing to Western internet platforms.
I spoke with Loopy Video games’ Rafael Morgan, Playgama’s Dmitry Kachmar and Pixel Federation’s Gustav Pastucha in regards to the subject.
With publishers trying to generate larger income share away from walled gardens, I requested merely: is that this one thing builders need greater than customers?
“The expertise of browser video games is getting pretty much as good as it’s on cell,” mentioned Morgan.
“If the expertise is pretty much as good and also you don’t should obtain something, and you’ll really play very simply with a buddy, sharing a hyperlink and doing all these things, what’s the benefit of truly going to the shop and downloading the app?”
It’s price stating after all that downloading an app is usually a swift and straightforward course of by design, creating as frictionless a course of as attainable. However the ease of shareability, availability throughout platforms and lack of reliance on machine energy from web-powered video games may, in concept, finally mix to assist create mass market adoption – notably if builders push for it.
However that adoption seems to nonetheless be ready on components together with breaking present person habits, the right way to market these experiences, the place to place them and truly rising audiences together with income throughout internet gaming platforms.
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Ideas for launching a video games studio in 2025
Regardless of a tricky funding atmosphere throughout the previous couple of years, new studios are nonetheless popping up within the video games trade.
Maysalward CEO Nour Khrais hosted a panel on ‘Tips on how to launch a video games studio in 2025 and past’, that includes The Breach Studios CEO Ferran Punti, Kokoon Video games CEO and founder Henri Lindgren, and Tremendous Banana Studios co-founder Nikolay Ternovoy.
They coated a variety of sensible matters, together with the place to get funding, normal ideas for operating a startup, and the state of cell for brand new studios.
Ternovoy mentioned there are a variety of potential choices to safe funding from and which one to take is dependent upon what a staff is constructing, their imaginative and prescient, and the enterprise case.
For his studio, Ternovoy went down the VC route because the staff believes it’s constructing a framework, quite than only one recreation. Nevertheless, for builders constructing one recreation, choices can embody angel traders and state programmes. In Catalonia, there are €150k funding initiatives out there, “no questions requested”, he mentioned.
Lindgren echoed the VC and angel investor choices, in addition to different grants and venture funding routes. He really helpful startups ought to take into account angel traders who include an identical background to what they’re constructing.
Punti warned startup founders ought to be cautious with their cap desk, as too many shareholders may doubtlessly trigger issues if and when one other bigger investor is available in.