State of play: The rise of Spain and Portugal's games hubs

• Spain and Portugal's games hubs have attracted international companies like Scopely, Miniclip, Fortis Games, Rovio, King and many more.
• Spain's games market brought in €2.41 billion during 2024.
• Industry turnover in Portugal reached close to €100 million in 2024.

This feature comes from our Iberia region report, published in association with Xsolla. You can download it for free here. Come visit Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona on June 15th and 16th to explore the region's games industry in person.

The Iberian Peninsula represents a huge opportunity in the global games market.

The Spanish arms of internal giants such as Scopely have proved their worth with their work on titles such as the megahit Monopoly Go, and leaders in the country are hoping that this homegrown talent will take the global stage by storm. Meanwhile, Portugal is a small but mighty industry that has historically struggled to retain its talent due to larger salaries elsewhere, but trade body APVP says that this talent is returning to the country and – alongside other factors – could help drive the sector to its next stage in evolution.

According to data from the Spanish video games trade body, AEVI, the country’s games industry brought in €2.41 billion during 2024, per the most recent data available.

That’s a 3% increase year-on-year. Around 22.1 million people play games in the country, too. The split is more-orless even, with women representing 50.45% of Spanish gamers.

Mobile is the most popular platform for playing games on, coming with 38% of players using this hardware. Next is console at 37%, with PC following close behind at 24%.

Data about the Portuguese market is harder to come by, but APVP says that between 2018–2024, the annual turnover of Portuguese games companies has risen from “€5.4 million to close to €100 million”, which gives an indication of the sheer growth the sector has experienced.

Spain's surge

If there is one thing that Spain is lacking, it isn’t a massive variety of games talent across the country. 

“Madrid is known for its triple-A console/PC pedigree, Barcelona excels in the mobile and free-to-play space, Sevilla is a hub for the indie creative scene, and emerging hubs like Bilbao are adding to the ecosystem,” explains Alexandre Besenval, industry veteran and the co-founder of new indie studio Side Quest Games.

Jorge Valentín González Coya, head of operations at Rovio’s Barcelona studio, adds that what makes the Spanish market unique right now is the sheer density of talent and diversity of the big players on the ground.

“We remain a world leader in mobile, but the presence of triple-A giants like IO Interactive and Ubisoft, or the growth of Larian Studios, shows that Iberia is now a top tier destination for any platform or genre.”

Coya says that one of the big opportunities for the Spanish games industry is to use the skills they have learned to create new homegrown hits.

“Historically, Spain, and Barcelona specifically, has been world-renowned as a premier hub for live ops and scaling,” he says. “We have seen many global hits that found their commercial peak and long-term success being managed and optimised right here. This has given our professionals an incredible, high-level expertise in what makes a game truly work at a massive scale.

“However, we are now at a turning point for the whole Peninsula. There is a palpable drive among Spanish professionals to move beyond scaling and focus on creating. The talent is ready, the expertise is there, and the ambition to build the next global, homegrown hit has never been higher.”

Despite the success it has seen in recent years, Coya says that it has become harder to hire into the industry.

“There is intense competition over talent,” he says. “The Iberian Peninsula has become such a dense hub that retaining top-tier talent requires increasingly strong value propositions. We need to ensure that Spain remains not just a place with great weather, but a place where developers can find the most career-defining projects in the world.”

Another challenge facing Spain’s games industry is how the country is split up, as the nation’s different regions are autonomous communities with their own tax and support schemes, as Besenval explains.

“Studios can obtain loans, grants, R&D incentives, employment support, and tax reliefs for both companies and individuals,” he says.

“Harmonising those among the different Spanish autonomous communities would build an even stronger case for Spain’s support system, as you still have significant differences from one region to another.”

Compared to the current setup, Besenval says it can be hard for studios to navigate, while the country also has a limited network of domestic VCs for games compared to other regions. The decentralised nature of the Spanish games industry has its problems, but Néstor Pequeño, director of operations for Spain at Monopoly Go giant Scopely, argues that this will make the sector “resilient and offer professionals a variety of high-quality lifestyles, which is a major claim for international recruitment”.

The next generation

When it comes to building up the next talent and studios, Spain already has a robust education sector when it comes to game development, but Scopely’s Pequeño argues that this needs to keep up with a rapidly evolving world.

“The industry moves at a pace that is often hard for traditional education to match,” he says.

“To stay competitive, we need to ensure that academic programs stay closely aligned with the actual, evolving skills that studios need today.”

There’s also a need to make sure that Spain remains competitive in an increasingly busy global market.

“While the foundations are strong, there is room to elevate the entire national ecosystem,” Coya says. “First, we need to continue bridging the gap between talent and the cost of living. Spain is a magnet, but we must ensure it remains competitive against other global hubs. Strengthening national tax incentives and grants is vital to ensure that ‘the Spanish dream’ remains accessible for all developers.”

Though the Spanish games industry has proved itself on the global stage, Besenval believes that it is yet to reach its “final form”, that being “the creation of a local homegrown unicorn company or game”.

“Achieving this milestone would be transformative for the country,” he states. “It would significantly attract more talent and investment, and it would spur the creation of spin-off studios enriched with high capital and expertise (the ‘ex-XX mafia’ effect).”

Another way for the Spanish development scene to evolve, according to Scopely’s Pequeño, is for companies to take more advantage of local developers’ experience across platforms. 

“I’d love to see more titles that, like Stumble Guys, manage to bridge the gap between mobile and PC/console,” he says. “Spain has a unique advantage here because the national ecosystem holds deep expertise in both mobile live ops and traditional PC/console development. My hope is that in five years, we’ll see more studios taking advantage of this dual talent pool to build experiences that feel native on any device.”

Looking ahead, Coya envisions an ecosystem in five years’ time where there are more industry giants anchored in Spain – but also domestic startups that have matured into a new wave of mid-sized and large independent studios, all creating original content for a global audience. “I hope the ‘Iberian model’, where highperformance professional excellence meets an unrivaled quality of life, becomes the global gold standard for how the games industry should evolve.”

Portugal's promise

The Portugal games scene is described as being “in a good place” at the moment by Diogo Vasconcelos of indie developer Nerd Monkeys, though he admits that it is “still small, with much to improve”.

Although there’s no denying that the Portuguese industry is smaller than that of other European countries, there’s also clear evidence that it is growing. As mentioned above, trade body APVP says that the annual turnover of Portuguese games firms rose by as much as 1,751% between 2018 and 2024.

“The ecosystem is notably diverse, hosting a rich mix of indie creators, service providers, and major international players,” APVP president Jeferson Valadares says.

“The mobile gaming sector serves as a particular engine of growth, anchored by global leaders like Miniclip and Fortis Games. Alongside these giants, Portugal is home to a tier of fast-growing studios such as Infinity Games, Volt Games, Phatfingers, and Joyglitch, as well as promising early-stage developers like Tiago Interactive, just to name a few.

“The industry remains highly heterogeneous, bringing together companies with diverse profiles ranging from indie studios to teams involved in large-scale triple-A projects. This growth is bolstered by a surge in specialised education, creating a talent pool that fuels IP holders, game tech, and service providers alike.

"A significant indicator of this maturity is the establishment of the IGDA Portugal chapter dedicated to empowering individual developers and students through community-building, knowledge sharing, and career advocacy.”

In Portugal, industry insiders say that there is a “real opportunity” for the country to become a hub for both development and co-development.

“The presence of studios like Funcom, led locally by Guilherme Santos, as well as The Gang, ZA/UM Porto, and Miniclip, among others, have a positive impact on the Portuguese industry overall,” Vasconcelos explains.

“These companies help developers enter the industry, move between studios, improve salary standards, and eventually give some people not only the experience but also the stability to create their own studios. If the right Portuguese entities understand and support that growth cycle properly, the opportunities for the whole industry will be undeniable.”

A growing number of initiatives, both within education and the broader community, are also helping people enter into the industry.

“Rather than relying solely on general technical talent, the country now boasts dozens of schools offering specialised game-related courses,” Valadares adds. “These programmes provide a diverse set of skills, spanning from game design and digital art to specialised AI and programming.”

In Portugal, funding remains the top problem facing the games industry. As Vasconcelos explains, the country’s industry lacks strong local investment and meaningful support for games as a cultural industry, especially compared to other regions with more established ecosystems.

“That creates a chain reaction of issues. Many studios end up relying heavily on outsourcing just to survive, but outsourcing makes it harder to grow your own projects sustainably.”

Another issue created by the funding situation is that retaining experienced staff is “difficult” due to higher salaries abroad.

“If nothing changes, we’ll continue to see promising Portuguese teams struggle to scale despite having strong creative or business potential,” Vasconcelos warns.

Despite the bleeding of talent abroad, APVP’s Valadares also boasts of what he calls “reverse brain drain” taking place.

“Many highly qualified seniors who moved abroad during the mid-2010s are now returning to Portugal, drawn by the expansion of the local ecosystem,” he says. “APVP is actively working to bridge these seasoned veterans with the local community, ensuring their global expertise directly empowers early-stage studios.”

Since the 2008 financial crisis Portugal has boasted one of the lowest cost of living environments in Western Europe, but Gonçalo Monteiro of Massive Galaxy Studios says this is starting to change.

“Housing costs in the major cities in Portugal are becoming an issue when the price is now very close to other major European capitals,” he observes. “There are also legal and bureaucratic issues for workers coming from abroad, getting visas, etc. And we lack senior experience in some key fields that are important for the video game industry. From technical artists, 3D to specific engine specialists, we still need to improve our industry knowledge.”

APVP’s Valadares says that the Portuguese games scene’s ability to attract senior global talent and retain up-and-coming workers means the industry has “the potential to become a positive example of talent retention and international attraction” for Portugal as a whole. 

“By demonstrating to the government that supporting our sector is an investment in high-value IP that stays within our borders, we are fueling a virtuous cycle where incoming experts mentor local graduates, building an increasingly sophisticated ecosystem,” Valadares explains.

“As an emerging industry, our priority is to harmonise our tax structures and incentives with the EU and global leaders to ensure Portugal remains a competitive global hub.”

Monteiro adds: “Besides attracting bigger companies to open offices here, the government needs to support the industry via better conditions for startups, tax credits and facilitating access to national and EU funds.”

Industry transformation

The outlook for the Portuguese games industry is optimistic, though Vasconcelos cautions that growth will still require effort and patience.

“If things keep growing at this pace, it will still require a lot of effort and patience from everyone, but I think Portugal could have a much stronger international reputation within five years,” he says.

“What I’d really like to see is a healthier ecosystem overall, with more sustainable studios, stronger funding structures, and government support and some actual recognition of its potential for the country, so more developers have the option and opportunity to stay in Portugal long-term doing what they do best: games.”

APVP’s Valadares says that the next five years will be “transformative” for the Portuguese games industry, “marked by a shift from being a talent exporter to a recognised powerhouse of original intellectual property.”

He continues: “Our goal is to see the industry further evolve beyond service provision, maturing into an ecosystem where technology and creativity converge to produce games as both tech and cultural products. By 2030, we expect to see the current wave of small teams owning and managing their own successful IPs, firmly establishing Portugal’s creative identity on the world stage.”

This feature comes from our Iberia region report, published in association with Xsolla. You can download it for free here. Come visit Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona on June 15th and 16th to explore the region's games industry in person.