With a busy year behind them, Sandsoft is looking ahead to another year of growth. With a new Barcelona studio and numerous projects in progress, this year is shaping up to be another big one for the mobile-first game developer.

Following Sandsoft making it into our Top 50 Game Makers list last year, we invited CEO David Fernandez Remesal to reflect on the company's journey throughout 2023 and tell us about the company's plans for 2024. We touch on the recently opened studio in Barcelona, what growth looks like in the MENA region, hiring new talent and how to keep mobile moving forwards.

PocketGamer.biz: How do you reflect on Sandsoft's growth and performance in the last year?

David Fernandez Remesal: 2023 was a hugely important year in the growth of Sandsoft. Our leadership team expanded with experts joining us from the likes of Meta and Socialpoint. In terms of announcements, we partnered with Jam City to support the global publishing of DC Heroes & Villains, which we were delighted to see win the best puzzle game at the Pocket Gamer Awards. We also expanded our game development capabilities through our studio in Barcelona. Moreover, we launched the second edition of our Press Start program. The program's goal has always been to nurture careers within the Middle East, so, I’m immensely proud to say that two interns will soon be joining us as full-time team members.

And what developments have there been in 2024 for Sandsoft so far?

The team has been hard at work on several projects, and we’re looking forward to sharing more exciting details about them in the future. We’re focused on creating innovative, accessible core social games that bring people together. So, to that end, a key goal is sharing our games with more players worldwide. Of course, games need game-makers, so hiring new talent with Sandsoft’s shared entrepreneurial and game-passionate mindset is another goal for us in 2024. We also look forward to creating new gameplay experiences powered by new technologies and to continue to inform, inspire, educate and attract the wider industry along with talent.

Sandsoft recently opened a new studio in Barcelona. Why Barcelona, and what will the teams there be focused on?

I have some personal experience with Barcelona, spending several years in the city during my time working on the Bubble Witch franchise at King. It’s a key city within the global games industry space, with Barcelona & Partners reporting that 40% of leading game companies have a presence in the city. A Barcelona studio allows us to engage with the high calibre of mobile-first talent based in the city and connect with the thriving development scene locally. Another key mission of Sandsoft has been to reach audiences from across the globe. With four in five Spaniards being game enthusiasts, having a Spanish presence lets us closely engage with this market as well as move closer to the growing LATAM region.

Our approach to game-making at Sandsoft means developers have free rein to explore their ideas, so we’re not tied to a particular genre. Our highly talented VP and Head of Barcelona Studio, Alexandre Besenval, and his team will be focused on developing first-party titles.

You mentioned hiring new talent, what can you tell us about Sandsoft's open positions? Are these mostly for the new Barcelona location or others too?

Seeing the scale of redundancies throughout the industry has been hugely disappointing. Over the next few years, we’re planning to grow the Barcelona team to 60 members, so we naturally need to find the right talent to achieve that goal. We have a range of positions currently open across various fields in Barcelona and other locations.

How about your work in the MENA region? Will we continue to see the industry grow there, and what advantages does the MENA market have?

Riyadh continues to house our international headquarters, and we remain hugely excited about the local industry. According to Niko Partners, the number of gamers in MENA-3 - that’s Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and UAE - continues to rise, reaching 68.4 million in 2023. Demographically, countries such as Saudi Arabia have a young population with an affinity for gaming, where 2023’s census revealed a median age of 29. I’d expect to see more developers look to engage this audience, which could mean partnering with publishers already established in the region.

MENA also has a rich history and culture. Whilst Ubisoft has taken a clear lead in creating compelling games set within the region, there is still further potential to create more global hits exploring MENA’s rich heritage. This involves offering narratives and settings rooted in the MENA region with a diverse set of characters for players across the globe to enjoy.

What are some of the challenges you think studios should remain aware of right now, and in contrast, what are you excited about for the industry's future?

On the whole, consumer spending in mobile gaming faced a decline in 2023. Considering the overall economic context, I think it’s important for the industry to stay wary of the market conditions.

More positively, in line with my previous thoughts, we’re continuing to see culturally authentic and diverse gameplay experiences across gaming platforms, such as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s launch in January, which explored Persian mythology.

At PGC London, we spoke about the stigma that is still sometimes attached to gaming in general, but particularly mobile gaming. How do you think this has changed in recent years, and what needs to happen to see it change even further?

Games and play have been a fundamental way of human learning and discovery, as young people understand how things work, strengthen their capabilities and skills as well as explore the world. Similarly, gaming is part of our cultural heritage in the same way as music, films, literature and other fine arts. Moreover, gaming is usually at the forefront of technology and has been driving the usage of new technologies such as 3D graphics, real-time interactions, and artificial intelligence, to name a few.

However, as an industry, we need to do better in elevating the work we produce, recognising our talent and creations, and celebrating our developments and the impact they have on the wider society. The games industry is the largest and deepest entertainment form, and, as such, we need to do more to be considered in the same way as our counterparts in the larger entertainment industry. We only hit the mainstream news with controversial topics such as unhealthy working environments, toxic gaming communities or unhealthy player habits, which create a social stigma that we need to fight back against, as these are usually isolated cases that don’t represent the wider industry.

And finally, is there anything we should be on the lookout for from Sandsoft?

Our publishing division is exploring partnerships with independent mobile studios that will materialise in the first half of the year enriching our portfolio of published titles on top of DC Heroes and Villains from Ludia/Jam City. I’m quite excited about a few of them that we can hopefully announce soon.

Similarly, Sandsoft is exploring further partnerships in Asia in the same way we have been doing in Europe and North America. We see ourselves as best placed to connect the East and the West and to support companies in leveraging the global opportunities we see in mobile gaming.