Programme Structure
Programme Structure
International presence
Over recent years, majors gaming companies have chosen Barcelona as their headquarters for product, innovation and creative development.
40% of the world’s leading video game companies have a presence in Barcelona
The access to highly talented professionals, an adaptive and creative workforce as well as the ability to attract international talent to the city, has nurtured their operations over the years.
The most relevant companies in the gaming industry continue to choose Barcelona to house new product development, operations, and creative hubs for continental Europe, or even the world:
/ KING
King has one of the early international video game developers to land in Barcelona in 2012
Since then, this major mobile gaming firm has helped consolidate an ecosystem of other international companies that have also found in Catalonia, ideal environment in which to grow. In 2019, the company announced they would be moving offices to a 6,700 m2 space, to house its 600 employees of over 45 nationalities.
“Barcelona has become a true hub for the video game industry. This means that there are many companies competing for the talent but at the same time, it also means that there are many highly skilled talents in the city.”
Jan Wedekind,
Head of Central Intelligence and Analytics at King
/ BANDAI NAMCO
In 2019, Bandai Namco established a new office in Barcelona dedicated to the development of mobile games as well as commercialisation in the Western market
The Japanese group Bandai Namco Entertainment, that specialises in the creation and commercialisation of videogames.
Under the name, Bandai Namco Mobile, the company stated Barcelona is a hotbed for international video game development and home to the best talent the mobile industry has to offer, and has opened an office space of 1,142 m2.
/ GAMELOFT
Gameloft Barcelona currently boasts a team of 150 professionals such as artists, designers, programmers and music specialists
In the city since 2006, Gameloft Barcelona is one of Gameloft’s most vibrant studios, home of some of the most relevant gaming hits in their company. Their talented teams are specialised in creating blockbuster action games, powered by their amazing technology.
Their most recent launches are the mobile gaming hits Despicable me: Minion Rush, Asphalt 8 Airborne and the recently released Asphalt 9: Legends.
/ IGG
Chinese giant IGG (I Got Games) chose Barcelona as its headquarters for European operations and expansion
The firm plans on growing their team in the city while overseeing markets such as the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. With a turnover of $667 million in 2019, IGG plans on conquering new European markets with the Catalan capital as its base.
/ UBISOFT
Barcelona and its innovative 22@ District is also home to global video game leader, Ubisoft
After nearly a decade in the Catalan capital, the French company currently boasts 120 employees and continues to bet on the digital talent the city has to offer. Leveraging access to highly talented gaming and technology professionals, Ubisoft is regularly hiring in the city to support growth.
«Ubisoft Barcelona has always played a very important role in the industry, both in Spain and in Europe».
Javier Capel
General Director Ubisoft Barcelona
/ FUNPLUS
Leading independent mobile game developer and publisher chose Barcelona to open its publishing office
Headquartered in China and Switzerland, the company aims to leverage the highly talented team of gaming and technology professionals located in the Barcelona region.
Company growth is expected to expand its teams locally with a focus on the growth of marketing, community management and creative services.
FunPlus game, State of Survival, became the fastest-growing SLG mobile game in terms of overseas revenue 2020 when it surpassed $80 million in monthly revenue after 17 months of release.
The availability of highly skilled talent, with a wide range of profiles, is one of the strengths of Barcelona’s ecosystem.
Barcelona’s digital talent is specialised in the areas of web development and mobile applications, UX / UI design and CRM and ERP consultants. These four specialties add up to more than 70.462 professionals, 50% of the city’s technological talent. The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC) is among the top innovative universities in Europe. It is a leading university in the ICT field, with expertise in 5G, big data, cybersecurity, IoT and quantum sciences.
Key Facts
/ 10th most attractive city in the world for digital talent and the 4th in Europe
/ 8th European City and the 21st world city for technology
/ + 31% digital professionals come from abroad (11% come from London)
/ ICT sector:
Source: Digital Talent Overview 2022. Barcelona Digital Talent
Source: The ICT Industry in Catalonia 2021. ACCIÓ
Source: Barcelona. Your partner for a lifetime project, 2020. Barcelona Activa
Barcelona has an unparalleled startup culture and international community
The Barcelona startup scene is made up of a rapidly growing and constantly evolving community of talented, international professionals and forward-thinking organizations. Entrepreneurs, both local and from abroad, thrive in Barcelona: yet another example of the city’s innovative capacity.
Key Facts
/ 4th startup hub in Europe
/ +1,900 startups (+60% related to technology)
/ 5th European scaleups ecosystem
Source: Analysis of the Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub, 2020. ACCIÓ
The powerful entrepreneurship ecosystem of Barcelona catches the attention and interest of giant multinational companies such as Apple, Take-Two or Airbnb, being the main buyers of Barcelona based startups.
Apple:
Apple acquired Vilynx, a startup specializing in advanced artificial intelligence and computer vision technology that may help the iPhone maker improve its own AI across a number of apps and services.
Take-Two:
In 2017, the American video game Take-Two (NASDAQ) acquired the Catalan startup Socialpoint, a world-renowned game developer and publisher, specialized in mobile gaming.
Airbnb:
Airbnb bought the Barcelona-based travel startup Trip4Real (a marketplace of experiences for tourists).
Barcelona is a global target for technological investment
The ICT Industry led foreign investment in Barcelona in 2020 in terms of projects implemented (27.9% of all investment projects).
Key Facts
/ 2nd best strategy in Europe to attract tech investments
/ Best worldwide tech city that is not a national capital
/ 7th region in Western Europe in the number of tech projects
/ 5th region in Western Europe in job creation
/ 8th in Western Europe capital Investment
Source: Financial Times, 2020
Source: Savills, 2019
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Our Method
We collaborate with you in three steps:
01 / Opportunity Definition
02 / Project Definition
03 / Project Building
01/ Opportunity Definition
We help you to consider
Barcelona as the place to be.
You share with us your goals, your expansion plans and your needs. We prepare a draft of the possible scenarios to analyze and how the Barcelona & Partners value proposition can help you make the decision.
At the first stage of our relationship, we want to help you navigate through the value proposition of our city, understanding its full potential. We can also help by defining the opportunity: from the analysis of your business objectives to the draft of feasible scenarios.
02/ Project Definition
We collaborate with you in
defining the project.
We understand the importance of a corporate investment operation.
We are willing to support in key aspects of the project definition phase:
03/ Project Building
