What Can Governments Do for the Gaming Industry? A Talk with the Director of Catalonia's Culture Ministry After Visiting Barcelona's Game Development Scene
Note: the original Japanese article can be found at:
https://www.4gamer.net/games/991/G999110/20251016039/
Writer: Katsutani Umi | 2025/10/16 06:18 (UTC)
At the BCN Game Fest 2025, held at La Farga de L’Hospitalet in Barcelona, Spain, I had the opportunity to speak with Marisol López, General Director for Innovation and Digital Culture at the regional Ministry of Culture. Here’s a brief introduction.
Barcelona, as a tourist hub, has been central to Catalonia’s strategy promoting its game industry—this topic was also covered in our ongoing series “Access Accepted” by Uyama Kaito.
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Access Accepted #834: Interviewing the Catalan Arts Digital Culture Booth That Made Waves at BitSummit the 13th
From July 18 to 20, the event “BitSummit the 13th” was held in Kyoto. One standout presence at the venue was the Catalan Arts Digital Culture pavilion. As a program led by Catalonia’s government cultural agency, it aims to promote culture and support business development. It’s expected that this initiative will help fuel significant momentum behind Southern Europe’s largest gaming event—BCN Game Fest by Indie Dev Day.
[2025/07/28 12:00]
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Catalan Arts Digital Culture is led by the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC), a public institution under the Ministry of Culture, as part of Catalonia’s broader cultural promotion and business development initiatives. In recent years, similar to Brazil at international game events like BitSummit, ICEC has established pavilion booths and actively supported local developers’ business efforts, encouraging investment within the region.
(Note: Though the acronym would normally be CICC, it uses “ICEC” based on its Catalan name.)
As previously mentioned in our series, Catalonia has a population of about 7.5 million—over 1.6 million people live in Barcelona alone, making it comparable in size to major Japanese cities like Fukuoka or Kawasaki.
Within this region, approximately 45,000 companies and around 170,000 workers are engaged in cultural and creative industries including game development. In fiscal year 2020, the sector contributed about 2% of Catalonia’s annual tax revenue through Gross Value Added (GVA). The industry is already mature as a business ecosystem, and with continued efforts to nurture game developers, it is poised to further contribute to an even more robust economy.
The interview with López was spontaneous, but I took the opportunity to learn more about these governmental initiatives.
4Gamer:
Alright then. Could you tell us more about ICEC’s programs?
López originally worked as a university professor. Despite being a high-ranking government official, she effortlessly cited concrete examples like Larian Studios’ “Baldur’s Gate 3”—a testament to her deep understanding of the industry. Image Gallery No.002 thumbnail / What Can Governments Do for the Game Industry? Interviewing the Director of Catalonia’s Ministry of Culture in Barcelona
López:
Our mission at the Catalan government’s Ministry of Culture is to support enterprises and studios categorized as “cultural companies.” This includes not just video games, but also music, audiovisual media, performing arts, publishing, and more. For the video game industry specifically, we offer grants, training programs, startup incubation, internationalization support—and participation in events like BitSummit is one of these initiatives. Additionally, we’ve run an incubator program called GameBCN for over ten years.
4Gamer:
GameBCN was also featured at this year’s BCN Game Fest 2025. Looking back on the past decade, how would you assess it?
López:
We fundamentally shifted the mindset around game development education—from preparing students solely to secure jobs at large corporations, toward fostering creative endeavors as viable business ventures. Though rooted in games, GameBCN was designed explicitly to nurture high-potential startups.
4Gamer:
So rather than ending with student projects, you aim to turn them into real products?
López:
Exactly. Through financial assistance, office space rentals, mentorship from industry professionals, and business know-how training, we’ve helped elevate these projects into commercially viable offerings. Over the past ten years, 45% of incubated projects have successfully been productized, becoming actual games. Of course, we’ve also gained substantial expertise in this process—and as a result, we now collaborate with similar initiatives like Marvel’s iGi (indie Game incubator), launched in Japan in 2021.
At the GameBCN booth, several student projects were showcased—future pillars of Catalonia’s local game industry. Image Gallery No.004 thumbnail / What Can Governments Do for the Game Industry? Interviewing the Director of Catalonia’s Ministry of Culture in Barcelona
4Gamer:
Global talent drain—where talented students go abroad for education and remain there, causing economic and knowledge gaps—is a growing concern in many countries.
López:
Of course, labor mobility is guaranteed within the EU. However, Barcelona remains one of the world’s leading commercial hubs with high living standards, so this issue hasn’t become visible here. Over time, major companies such as Bandai Namco Entertainment, Ubisoft, Gameloft, and Social Point (acquired by Take-Two Interactive) have established operations in Barcelona. More recently, studios like Larian Studios, IO Interactive, and Paradox Interactive have opened branches—clear proof that the city successfully attracts high-quality talent.
4Gamer:
Ah yes—and you’ve since partnered with grassroots initiatives like IndieDevDay to rebrand it into BCN Game Fest?
López:
Exactly. We’re very proud of this transformation. It’s clear we’ve proven that this industry and market are growing. In fact, we’ve worked closely with IndieDevDay even before the official merger. Our first venue back in 2018 was modest—a courtyard within a building shaped like a “C,” hosting just 15 indie teams. Unfortunately, it rained (a rare occurrence in Barcelona), so everyone had to squeeze their desks under the eaves and nervously played each other’s games, worried about short circuits—laughing about it now.
4Gamer:
Haha! That puts this year’s venue—the 9,000-square-meter La Farga—in stark contrast.
López:
Indeed. It’s equivalent to four soccer fields and hosts over 200 exhibitors. Our current goal is to make BCN Game Fest even more international and elevate Barcelona’s game scene on the global stage. With that in mind, La Farga has already become too small—we’ll eventually need a larger venue.
4Gamer:
True—publishers like Devolver Digital are already participating. If major publishers join, the space might fill up completely.
López:
That’s a great point. To achieve internationalization, we must create an event that attracts large foreign publishers. When they attend and experience the show firsthand, it encourages young local gamers to participate—and ultimately grow into future talent for our industry. This creates a self-sustaining pipeline of skilled labor.
4Gamer:
Thank you very much for your time today.
Recently, another government official I met from abroad told me a humorous anecdote: when he visited a prominent figure in Japan’s anime industry to ask about the necessity and potential support from the government, the veteran replied with a smile, “The most important thing the government can do is nothing.” Of course, what he really meant was “don’t interfere.”
Even in Japan, many consider the “Cool Japan” strategy a failure. Yet Catalonia—centered on the cultural capital of Barcelona—has long been involved in various art forms such as performing arts and publishing. This experience has clearly built strong expertise. In our conversation with López, there was no discussion about specific content creation—only support for industry development through programs like GameBCN. Perhaps it’s not far off that “Barcelona-made games” will become a common sight on the global market.