Building Barcelona: The evolution of Spain's brightest games hub

• Barcelona & Partners CEO Montse Puig says Barcelona is home to 262 video games companies and studios employing more than 5,100 professionals.
• Barcelona accounts for roughly 30% of Spain's games studios, 50% of the workforce and 52% of the revenue.
• Video games startups in the region have increased by 35% over the past five years, reaching a record 58 companies in 2024.

This article is from our Iberia region report, to be published in association with Xsolla, coming soon. The report will be published alongside Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona on June 15th and 16th. Get your tickets here.

Barcelona is Spain’s biggest games hub - which also happens to make the city the largest hub on the Iberian Peninsula.

According to a 2024 white paper by Spanish developers trade association DEV, the Catalonia region was home to 32% of the country’s games industry. The vibrancy of the city’s sector, combined with the wider Iberian industry, is why we're host Pocket Gamer Connects in Barcelona on June 15th and 16th.

Investment attraction agency Barcelona & Partners, part of Barcelona Global, is a private and selective investment agency whose goal it is to attract companies and initiatives that will have a major socio-economic and sustainable impact on the Barcelona region. It focuses on five key areas including Interactive Media - which includes gaming.

Barcelona is home to homegrown studios like Take-Two-owned Socialpoint, which has worked on games like Dragon City and Monster Legends, and Activision Blizzard-owned local studio Digital Legends.

Meanwhile, a plethora of mobile games companies have set up shop in the region, including King, Scopely, Bandai Namco, IO Interactive, Lilith Games, NetEase, Rovio, Tripledot Studios, Ubisoft and others.

“The region is home to 262 video games companies and studios employing more than 5,100 professionals, with aggregate revenues of €756 million, around 53% of Spain's entire video games industry turnover,” Barcelona & Partners CEO Montse Puig tells PocketGamer.biz.

“Barcelona itself accounts for roughly 30% of Spain's studios, 50% of the workforce and 52% of the revenue. Between 2020 and 2024, the region attracted 24 FDI projects (15% of the EU total), representing €158.2 millions of investment and 1,452 new jobs, more than 15% of all jobs generated by the EU video games industry in that period.

“The startup base has also grown fast. Video games startups in the region have increased by 35% over the past five years, reaching a record 58 companies in 2024, of which 11 are scaleups. 

“Together they raised $132 million in funding between 2020 and 2024. Barcelona now ranks as the fourth city in the European Union for the number of video games startups, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report 2025.”

Why Barcelona?

So why have so many big name global games companies expanding into the region and why should others follow suit? 

“What makes it work is an ecosystem that feeds itself,” continues Puig. “Barcelona has more than 133,000 digital professionals, 33% of them international, supported by a dense network of universities and specialised schools producing developers, designers, artists and producers, and reinforced by sector initiatives, incubators and international events like Pocket Gamer Connects.

“Around that talent base sits a thriving business fabric: 2,400+ startups - 90% of them investing in R&D - more than 200 global tech hubs and over 9,600 foreign companies. The more talent and companies arrive, the stronger the ecosystem becomes. Talent attracts talent. It is one of the reasons Barcelona consistently ranks among the world's best cities to live and work in.”

She adds: “Beyond the business case, the city itself does a lot of the work: a Mediterranean lifestyle, world-class infrastructure, global connectivity and a vibrant creative culture place Barcelona among Europe's leading cultural cities. It is reinforced by competitive costs and strong public incentives for audiovisual and digital sectors, further strengthening the region's appeal for global talent and investors.”

Government incentives, private investment opportunities and a wide ecosystem have become hotpoints of discussion across global games hubs. Some countries are investing heavily to attract international studios and build homegrown companies.

To support the local sector, Puig says Barcelona & Partners offers its services free of charge, covering everything from project ideation and business strategy to the actual arrival of a company in the city.

“Gaming companies tend to ask us about talent, real estate, ecosystem access and how to relocate international staff smoothly (visas, schooling, the Spanish 'Beckham' inbound talent regime). Tax incentives for audiovisual and digital production and R&D credits are also frequent points of conversation.”

Evolving sector

With a number of those previously named global games companies moving into the region, we ask exactly how Barcelona’s industry has evolved over the years to where it is today.

Puig says that, in the early stages, the sector was driven by a handful of local studios like Socialpoint, Digital Legends and Omnidrone. The turning point, she explains, is when these “local champions” were acquired, with the latter picked up by Scopely in 2022.

“These deals shifted the perception of Barcelona from an emerging hub to a proven location for game development and live operations at global scale,” says Puig.

“From there, major international studios such as King, Scopely, Bandai Namco, Rovio, Tripledot and FunPlus have established or scaled significant operations in the city, while new homegrown ventures like Bespoke Pixel, led by Ubisoft veteran David Polfeldt and backed with $25 million, signal a new generation of triple-A ambition. 

“In parallel, universities and specialised training centres have expanded their programmes in game development, art, programming and design, helping to build a strong and increasingly international talent base.”

She adds: “From an emerging hub of local talent 20 years ago, Barcelona is today a consolidated and highly competitive ecosystem and a leading European centre for digital creativity and interactive entertainment.”

For all the positives, Barcelona’s games industry has not been immune to the challenges faced by the global industry. Puig says the sector has moved toward more selective investment, a sharper focus on efficiency and a renewed emphasis on sustainable growth. There are also other challenges.

“One of the main challenges the games industry and the cities competing within it currently face is global pressure in talent attraction and retention. The combination of remote work and a more fluid labour market means that highly skilled digital and creative professionals can choose where they live and work, making ecosystems compete on a truly international scale.”

Still, Puig sees a bright future for Barcelona’s games hub, which she says is already one of Europe’s leading sectors.

“The next five years should be about turning that into a broader global presence: scaling our workforce, our IP and our footprint in segments where we still have room to grow.”

Check out Barcelona's games hub for yourself at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona on June 15th and 16th.