55 percent of Spanish video game studios have problems finding qualified professional profiles, and the most complicated profiles to hire are those related to logic and game programming and technology.
The Spanish Association of Video Game and Entertainment Software Producers and Developers (DEV) has published the tenth edition of its White Book, which analyzes the Spanish video game industry and introduces a series of recommendations and proposals for the Government in order to to point out the aspects to improve in this sector.
In general terms, the report points out that Spain has 790 active studios and the vast majority are established in Catalonia (30%) and in Madrid (21%). They are followed by Andalusia (14%) and the Valencian Community (8.9%).
Likewise, DEV points out that 66 percent of the studies are more than five years old, one point more than last year, which demonstrates the consolidation of the industry in Spain. This is also evident in the turnover of the Spanish video game, valued at 1,383 million in 2022, which results in an increase of 8 percent compared to the previous year.
The Spanish sector continues to be made up of a majority of video game studios that invoice below 200,000 euros. In total, 51 percent of them. Only 1 percent manages to invoice more than 50 million.
Regarding employment, the document details that the video game industry in Spain directly employed 9,261 people in 2022, with 93 percent of indefinite contracts, and that 50 percent of those more than 9,000 people are concentrated in Catalonia.
Likewise, it points out that the majority of studios that make up this network of development companies have few employees: 68 percent of the total have less than ten and 47 percent of the sector is made up of studios with fewer than five people.
Large firms, for their part, continue to be those that generate the most employment in Spain, because they hire 47 percent of the workers in the sector, that is, two points above the 2022 figure.
In relation to the professional profiles that represent the video game industry in this country, the association determines that 83 percent of workers have a degree or a training cycle higher degree and that 91 percent of them are under 45 years of age.
Likewise, programming profiles continue to be the most popular in the studios, representing 21.7 percent of the total. Of them, 10 percent correspond to logic and games, followed by 7 percent dedicated to technology and 4 percent to the ‘backend’.
2D and 3D art profiles have decreased from 17 percent in 2022 to 14 percent in 2023, while profiles dedicated to marketing and distribution and designers have grown (both now registering 7 percent).
Despite these figures, DEV has highlighted that 55 percent of Spaniards have problems finding qualified professional profiles and that this depends on the type of activity.
In this way, the logic and game programming profiles (45%) and technology (45%) are the most complicated to hire. They are followed by designers (38%), UX/UI designers (30%) and technical artists (30%).
THE PC, CORNERSTONE OF THE SPANISH VIDEO GAME
Based on the recent study, 85 percent of gamers continue to prefer the PC to play video games, followed by mobile platforms, Android (54%) and iOS (48%), which surpass desktop consoles this year.
In this way, 48 percent of players use PlayStation 5, 47 percent opt for Nintendo Switch and 44 percent for Xbox Series X|S.
As for the most popular purchasing platforms, DEV has confirmed that Steam remains in first place, with 89 percent of players preferring it, compared to Epic Games Store (37%) and itch.io (34%).
Another peculiarity of the Spanish video game industry is that the titles developed in this territory are consumed mainly in Spain (40%), far surpassing Europe (23%) and North America (23%). As to Pacific Asia, the analysis highlights a drop in saleswhich has gone from 8 to 6 percent.
EDUCATION, MAIN CUSTOMER
In the section on the activity and business models of these companies, DEV has commented that 85 percent of the studies opt for the development of their own IPS, while 56 percent choose self-publishing and 46 percent, for work for third parties.
The latter is related to the type of games that are developed, mainly serious games, which are mainly aimed at education (70%), which continues to be the main client of Spanish studios.
In addition to this area, video games are also destined for culture in 50 percent of the cases and the environment also gains prominence, with 27 percent of the games, which It is placed on par with the health sector.
FINANCING AND PUBLIC AID
The video game industry continues to require investment to undertake its future projects, with contributions ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 euros in 24 percent of cases. The same percentage of studies seek between 600,000 and 1,500,000 million euros, while only 14 percent of the participants They have needs above 1.5 million euros.
While 76 percent of them are self-financing or can cover their expenses with the income derived from their activity, 69 percent of these studies depend on their own resources and contributions from partners and founders.
The aid granted by the State, for its part, has gone from 12 to 16 percent and 36 percent of Spanish developers received some public aid in 2023. Although the majority came from the autonomous communities themselves (43%) , also came from the deduction of R&D&i activities (36%) and national programs (32%)
SECTOR DEMANDS
DEV has also indicated that they advocate the adoption of a series of measures aimed at strengthening the sector, as well as the growth and consolidation of video game development studios.
In this way, they have insisted that it is necessary to establish a tax incentive for the production and recruitment of international video game projects; a measure that has already been implemented in countries such as France, Italy or the United Kingdom and that “is increasing the number of productionsattracting large investments and establishing an important multiplier effect”.
The association also considers it important to increase the budget allocation allocated to public aid for the promotion of the video game sector and other forms of digital creation and to promote a public-private investment fund to promote the growth and internationalization of Spanish video game developers.
Likewise, it believes it is necessary to promote the incorporation of young professionals into the workforce, with special attention to women, since the female presence in the industry “continues to be a challenge”, since female employment in this sector only reaches 26 percent.