The Spanish video game sector exceeded 2,400 million euros in turnover in 2024. A historical record that hides a bitter reality: mass layoffs, emblematic studies closures and the first sector strike in history.
The panoramic. Spain is the third European market and one of the ten World Cups. More than 22 million people play 75 minutes average and revenues grew 3%. But the industry is fractured: multinationals with record benefits while national studies fall into chain.
Between bambalins. The closure of Tequila Works and Novaramatwo of the most emblematic studies in Spain, has been only the tip of the iceberg.
The list continues to grow every month.
The pattern is repeated: foreign multinationals buy Spanish studies promising growth and stability, and then close or jibarize their templates when business priorities change.
The backdrop. Pandemia created a bubble of unreal expectations. The consumption of video games shot 75% during confinement, and that attracted huge investments that expected perpetual growth. But when the world returned to normal, the demand stabilized. By then, business structures had grown excessively.
Investors have retired almost 20% in the last two years and large technological ones have responded with mass dismissals: Xbox and PlayStation They accumulate thousands of layoffs this year. Electronic Arts, a almost 700. Globally, more than 14,000 Workers lost their employment in 2024. In 2025 the account continues.
Yes, but. The sector continues to generate opportunities. Scopely has opened a HUB In Barcelona With 700 employees. Electronic Arts announced last year The creation of 600 positions in Madrid. The most agile small studies find profitable niches.
But these exceptions do not compensate the general bleeding: More than half of Spanish studies invoice less than 200,000 euros per year.
The threat. The AI looms over the sector. King used his own workers to create an AI tool that designs levels, as they said The countryand now that same tool replaces them. Microsoft has made it clear that AI will be its “new great mission”, justifying 9,000 layoffs despite achieving record benefits.
- The workers from Asian countries charge half that Europeans.
- IA tools promise to reduce development costs by 40%.
- Investment funds require immediate profitability, not long -term creative projects.
What is being said. “It is a crisis with capital letters,” acknowledges the Spanish Association of Developing Companies in a report of eldiario.es. The CSVI union It is more direct: “Our main work is now to accompany in all you are that are being produced.” Workers denounce a systematic pattern of “buying, squeezeing and throwing” by multinationals.
The industry claims tax incentives similar to those of the audiovisual sector, which in other European countries reach 30%. Without them, they warn, Spain will lose competitiveness against France, Germany or the United Kingdom, which are already attracting investments with better conditions.
Decisive moment. The Spanish video game industry is located at a crossroads. Or it reinvents itself with a more sustainable model that protects local talent and creativity, or will be reduced by cheap labor for multinationals that can close the tap at any time.
Outstanding image | King
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