Published on: 22/12/2022

Spain to invest €8 million in video game, metaverse development

Spain’s Ministry of Culture and Sports has announced that it will allocate €8 million to fund the development of video games and narrative metaverse experiences. The announcement came amid the global race to include gaming and the metaverse as part of cultural heritage.

Spain’s minister of culture, Miquel Iceta, said the video game industry had proven vital in transforming the country’s economy. The program, which will finance projects in the video game industry in 2023, is part of the “Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.”

This project is currently in its second wave, and the Spanish government will raise its funding 700 percent higher than the first, where 25 projects received grants. Companies in this industry that aim to digitize and modernize all aspects of the Spanish economy are eligible for funding.

These funds will be provided by the European Union and delivered as yearly or multi-yearly grants. Iceta said this program would help small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed workers promote their products. It is hoped that this project will reinforce Spain’s image as a reference for the audiovisual hub in the video game sector.

According to Sergio Goschenko from Bitcoin.com, video games are the most popular form of audiovisual entertainment, more so than movies. This fact encouraged Iceta to push Spain into a position where it could compete with other countries in this industry and export its video games. Goschenko said that the video game market in Spain would grow by 20 percent every year, and it might cross the €2.3 billion mark in 2024.

As an effort to support this initiative, video games as metaverse experiences will be considered cultural experiences. Goschenko said the National Library of Spain would have to preserve the country’s collection of video games and metaverse experiences as Spanish heritage to allow future generations to appreciate them.

Málaga to build video game museum

Francisco Salado, president of the Málaga Provincial Council, said that the Spanish province of Málaga took the video game industry seriously. As an additional means to support this industry, Salado recently announced the OXO Videogame Museum, with a plan to open its doors on January 27, 2023.

“The museum will be unique in Spain and Europe, and will complete the province’s cultural leisure, and tourism offer; it was the missing piece and fits perfectly with Malaga’s technological take-off,” Salado said.

According to Salado, the video game industry contributed to creating qualified employment. Computer science, robotics and new technology specialists of the Spanish tech institute Tokio School have published a report which appears to support Salada’s statement. Based on data, the video game industry had a turnover of €1,700 in Spain in 2021.

OXO Videogame Museum has raised €2 million in investment. The building will have five floors, a merchandise shop and an auditorium for cultural showcases. It will be located in the center of Málaga city Plaza del Siglo, at a building formerly known as Patronato de Turismo. The museum is expected to help introduce Málaga as the first “gamer” destination in Europe.