The world launch of video games “made in Chile”

The video game industry grows by leaps and bounds all over the world. And Chile, although it can’t compared to North American and Asian markets yet, it is today an Ibero-American reference for excellence.

The scenario is very different for national developers compared to ten years ago. If before ventures were barely sustained in an almost artisanal way, currently independent studies proliferate and bill together with large international companies. In 2017, in fact, the Creole industry had revenue of 5.8 million dollars.

VideoGames Chile (VG Chile) is the trade association that welcomes local developers. One of his executives, Sven Von Brand, says they had to wait until 2010 to found it, because only that year reached the minimum 8 companies as a requirement to found a guild. In 2016 there were about thirty, and a these heights are already more than 40 studies. For this reason, Chile launches about 100 own invoice titles a year average.

“That responds to the fact that the entry barrier to the industry was broken. It was difficult before, but since Android and Apple opened and allowed you to develop games for mobile platforms from home, all changed, “says Brand, who is also part of Abstract Digital Works, a study that has developed several modules in virtual reality.

A few weeks ago, Ludopolis was launched, the first festival for local developers based in Valdivia. “This first year was for us, but our expectations are that Ludópolis is an international festival in the near future, “says the director of VG Chile. That is based on the solvency of the studies. Without going further Far away, Gamaga, the largest company in the country, billed a million dollars in revenue last year.

Guild cohesion, says Brand, highlights the national industry abroad. In the Game Developers Conference of 2017, the largest international showcase for developers, Chile presented its stand with 28 different studies, a record for the Southern Cone. It was followed by Brazil (18) and Argentina (16). In that same fair The country marked a milestone for Spanish speaking: in 2012, and after 26 years, it was the first Latin American industry that He said he was present at the planetary event.

From there, we are the only country that has presented itself uninterruptedly and, at the same time, we surpass the other greats of the neighborhood thanks in large part to the efforts of ProChile, which leads the delegations to international fairs.

Last week, without going any further, at the Gamescom in Germany there were 12 national representatives showing their latest developments, being the most nourished Latin American delegation in European lands, and something similar is expected for the September Tokyo Game Show in Japan and Montreal International Game Summit of Canada, in December.