When terms like ‘hackathon,’ ‘gamification,’ or ‘eSports’ are mentioned, many might dismiss them as mere youthful pastimes involving consoles. However, such a reductive view overlooks the immense economic, creative, and employment potential of the video game industry. It’s time to shed old prejudices and, with a glossary in hand, embrace this dynamic sector.
Madrid’s Strategic Play: Investing in the Future of Gaming
The Argentine writer Julio Cortázar once stated that “play is a very serious thing,” fundamental to human creativity and experience. Extending this thesis into the 21st century, electronic games have become powerful tools for creativity and innovation. Fueled by technology, they offer limitless user interaction and an equally boundless world of possibilities.
Spain stands as the third-largest European market for the video game industry, according to the 2024 yearbook from the Spanish Video Game Association (AEVI). Over 22.1 million people in Spain regularly play video games, generating a turnover exceeding 2.4 billion euros and directly employing over 11,000 individuals. In Madrid alone, this industry contributes more than 1.2 billion euros to the economy, employs over 6,000 people, and hosts more than 240 companies, including major international players. The capital also boasts 12 universities and 30 specialized training centers in gaming, programming, digital design, and eSports, offering over 40 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. This creates an ideal environment for entrepreneurship, economic growth, and investment attraction.
Recognizing the sector’s significance and its vast potential, the Madrid City Council is spearheading public investment in the industry through the ‘Madrid in Game’ program. Launched in 2022 by the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, under the umbrella of the Department of Economy, Innovation, and Finance, the project aims to position Madrid as a global benchmark for the video game and gamification sector. It seeks to enhance the creative, entrepreneurial, and competitive capabilities of citizens and professionals in an industry that, while still nascent, is already a primary economic driver for new generations.
Driving Employment and Internationalization
‘Madrid in Game’ encompasses a multitude of initiatives, focusing on both businesses and society to foster sociocultural and economic change through gamification. Its primary objectives are to generate employment in the capital, discover and attract talent, and promote its internationalization. Born from the ‘Acuerdos de la Villa,’ ‘Madrid in Game’ primarily operates through the Video Game Campus and the Video Game Cluster.
The Video Game Campus: A Hub of Innovation
The Video Game Campus is a hybrid space, both physical and virtual, housing various initiatives dedicated to the development and experiences within video games, gamification, and eSports. It connects industry professionals with local young talents and the industrial fabric, primarily through the Cluster’s companies, but also through other initiatives.
Its physical headquarters are located in Madrid’s Casa de Campo, spanning 4,500 m2 across several pavilions where the different ‘Madrid in Game’ initiatives unfold. One pavilion hosts the Experience Center, open to the public, organizing exhibitions, workshops, conferences, and events. Another houses the Esports Center, a high-performance training facility for electronic sports, offering public training areas to professionalize the competitive industry. A third pavilion contains the Development Center, which forms the core of the ‘Madrid in Game’ entrepreneurship program. It supports startups with pre-incubation, incubation, and acceleration projects, and provides laboratories equipped with cutting-edge hardware for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), video, and sound.
Since February 11th, the Discovery Center has been added, a new space dedicated to outreach and entertainment around video games and gamification. This reinforces the Madrid City Council’s commitment to innovation, young talent, and the creation of quality employment in the city, making the Video Game Campus a pioneering ecosystem in Europe. This experience center is free and open to the public, requiring prior reservation through the ‘Madrid in Game’ website or mobile application. Visitors can explore, through VR and AR, how video game and gamification technologies are impacting their daily lives.
The Video Game Cluster: A Public-Private Alliance
The other cornerstone of the municipal ‘Madrid in Game’ initiative is the Cluster, a non-profit public-private association created by the Madrid City Council. In less than five years, it has become a strategic meeting point for companies, universities, institutions, and other key players in the sector. Consolidated as one of Europe’s largest digital ecosystems, it now brings together over 70 leading companies and multinational firms, aiming to enhance connectivity and networking among them, and boost the employability of recent graduates. The Cluster’s members span all segments of the gaming industry, from development and training to equipment, eSports, platforms, distribution, legal services, and events.
The Cluster promotes Madrid’s positioning as a strategic reference in video game and eSports development, and as a regular host for international competitions. The city has already hosted top-tier events such as the Valorant Masters Madrid 2024, the Call of Duty League Major, the LEC (League of Legends European Championship), and the Final Four of the Superliga Domino’s of League of Legends. This leadership in the industry is further supported by the presence of southern European headquarters for major distributors and publishers like Bandai Namco and Plaion in the city.
Talent Scouting, Hackathons, International Fairs, and Expert Meetings
The municipal commitment to boosting Madrid as a hub and engine for the video game, gaming, and eSports industry includes a myriad of periodic activities that connect youth talent and vocation with professional futures in the sector. One of the most popular projects is ‘Cazacracks,’ where teams of young people visit around thirty schools and institutes in the Community of Madrid each edition to discover future video game talents. The goal is to show high school and vocational training students the various professional profiles needed in the industry and guide interested individuals towards educational and career paths in a sector with high demand for qualified workers.
Following the school visits, the ‘Cazacracks’ final event takes place at the Video Game Campus. Attendees can learn about training opportunities from universities and specialized centers, participate in eSports competitions, attend talks and presentations by professionals, and discover projects and video games developed in the ‘Madrid in Game’ accelerator, within the Start IN Up Program.
The Start IN Up Program, which celebrated its sixth edition in November, is a startup acceleration program developed at the Development Center of the Video Game Campus. Since its inception in 2023, companies that have participated in the program have raised over 10.5 million euros in public-private funding and created 258 direct jobs, strengthening Madrid’s video game ecosystem. A total of 157 startups have gone through this project, receiving over 4,700 hours of mentoring and 270 hours of specialized training.
Another well-known initiative is ‘El Tardeo de Madrid in Game,’ a series of meetings launched in 2023 and usually held in the capital, but also in other cities. These events feature experiential talks by established industry gurus for interested audiences. Following these talks, a networking space is opened for attendees, aiming to build community, strengthen professional networks, and generate new business opportunities. Important companies like Epic Games, Riot Games, MercurySteam, Tequila Works, Electronic Arts, and GiantX, as well as prominent figures such as Óscar Cañellas ‘Mixwell’ and voice actors Claudio Serrano and Mario García, have participated in various editions.
The City Council, through ‘Madrid in Game,’ also periodically organizes ‘Madrid in Game HackJams,’ 48-hour marathons for developing video games and new skills, testing participants’ knowledge in a collaborative and highly creative environment. Alongside these, proposals like hackathons stand out. These are group competitions where video games are developed to meet a challenge posed by the organization, which can revolve around education, health and well-being, the environment, or any other discipline requiring a future societal solution.
Thanks to the municipal government’s impetus, Madrid has also become a venue for events such as the ‘NASA Space Apps Challenge,’ an international team competition, an initiative of the famous space agency, which once a year poses various STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) challenges focused on the universe, engaging audiovisual dissemination of experiments, or socio-educational awareness regarding climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In addition to these initiatives, ‘Madrid in Game’ has transferred its model to other countries through its presence at relevant international fairs such as Gamescom, Europe’s most important video game fair held annually in Cologne, Germany; the Tokyo Game Show; and the technology and innovation event eMerge Americas, held in Miami, United States.
Madrid, Capital of eSports
‘Madrid in Game’ is also a driving force behind the various seasons of the municipal electronic sports leagues, the Esports Series Madrid, which have featured star products such as Clash Royale, League of Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant.
With an upcoming event scheduled for March 14th, the City Council is launching the fourth season of these leagues, specifically the Esports Series Madrid League of Legends. Through this initiative, participants are invited to create their team, compete against rivals in both virtual and physical events, train at the eSports Center in Casa de Campo, and reach the top in the qualifiers, potentially reaching the ‘Madrid in Game’ Grand Final.
True to its commitment to consolidate Madrid as an international capital for video games and as an industry hub in Europe, the City Council continues to advance its strategy of giving it a preferential place within municipal policies. Thus, it has incorporated the Action Framework for the promotion of the sector in the city into the Madrid City Industry Plan 2026-2027; and has announced, within the framework of the latest edition of FITUR, the launch of three new lines of collaboration for video game development in Buenos Aires, which joined the Madrid cluster in November.
E+i: A Winning Combination
Through ‘Madrid in Game,’ the City Council reinforces its commitment to one of the fastest-growing cultural and technological industries globally, and maintains its strong commitment to the E+i (entrepreneurship and innovation) binomial. This philosophy is transforming the capital into a future incubator and an engine for ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas, providing the perfect ground for entrepreneurs and restless minds to unleash their talent and paint the city of tomorrow from a new and refreshing perspective. Because, in gaming and eSports, almost everything remains to be done, and, frankly, how many sectors can boast such a stimulating prospect? The future begins in Madrid, and it does so through ‘Madrid in Game.’
Glossary of Terms:
- Gamer: A person who regularly plays video games and shows interest in the technology, events, and community surrounding them. Can be an amateur or a professional.
- Gamification: The application of game mechanics and dynamics (points, levels, rankings, etc.) in non-gaming environments such as health, culture, or mobility.
- eSports (electronic sports): Organized professional or amateur video game competitions. They resemble traditional sports, attracting large audiences in tournaments, often followed via streaming. They require high discipline and training, with structured teams.
- Streaming: Refers to any real-time playback of audio, video, or other multimedia content on a device over the Internet. This allows content to be viewed or listened to without having to download it first.
- GameJam: A gathering, in-person or online, where developers, artists, and designers create a functional video game within a limited time. The goal is to foster creativity, rapid learning, and collaboration, often following a surprise theme.
- Hackathon: Also an intensive collaborative creation event with a time limit, usually a weekend (48-72 hours). Although very similar to a GameJam, it has a subtle difference: it does not seek a video game as a final result, but rather an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of software or hardware, focused on solving a specific technical or business problem or need.
Source: https://diario.madrid.es/blog/2026/03/17/madrid-in-game-industria-videojuego-madrid/
