FunPlus opens a mobile game studio in Barcelona. Enric Cabestany, Vice President of FunPlus Europe, said, “Barcelona is a globally renowned center for mobile and video game talent, and we are very honored to be here in the city and develop games that align with our company strategy. Just the first step in a long march where we will expand the team, recruit talent, look for opportunities in the competition and make Barcelona shine in the future.”
In addition to FunPlus, DeviCAT, the Catalan video game association, is also quite concerned about this matter, saying that “video games are one of the most promising industries in Catalonia, especially the many talented young people in the region. Thanks to the presence of these companies, Catalonia has become the most attractive talent pool in the region and has achieved extremely rapid growth. The development of FunPlus locally will greatly help us.”
The data shows that Catalonia is the region that has received the highest total foreign investment in the game industry in the past five years, with a total of 120 million euros. In addition, foreign investment in Catalonia has the second highest number of gaming jobs in Europe.
In fact, Barcelona is similar to Montreal, in the development of the game industry, from government support, value depression, to the influx of foreign capital. At present, Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, King and Smilegate have all set up local branches.