Seventy years have passed since the release of Nought and crosses, also called OXO, considered to be the first video game; it was developed by Alexander S. Douglas in 1952. It was a computerised version of tic-tac-toe that ran on the EDSAC and allowed a human player to play against a machine.

Many years have passed since then and the video game industry has only evolved. Today, August 29th is World Gamer's Day or World Video Game Day and we will take the opportunity to take a look back at the industry.

 Currently, the community of users has grown to a record 18 million video gamers, according to the latest report presented by the Spanish Association of Video Games (AEVI) on the year 2021. The report shows that not only has the number of players increased, but also the consumption of video games had a turnover of 1,795 million euros, 2.75% more than the previous year.

Source: 2021 yearbook of the Spanish Video Games Association.

 Video games are part of the cultural industry in Spain, a booming sector both in this country and worldwide, with figures of up to 150,000 million euros, even more than the film and music industries combined, according to Newzoo.

Games such as Minecraft, which has already sold over 200 million units in ten years, are popular with children and adults alike. Its success lies in its ease of installation on any device, as well as its ability to expand creativity by designing, building and modifying the game space with blocks. It is followed by Grand Theft Auto V, set in the fictional city of Los Santos, based in Los Angeles, Tetris, one of the most famous games of the 2000s, and the Nintendo classic, Super Mario Bros, which has been with us since 1985.

Video game industry projections

AEVI points out that "the video games sector has a significant growth potential, with an enormous capacity to generate highly qualified employment and a great possibility of internationalisation". A sector with high growth projections requires professionals who are up to the challenges faced by this industry, which is evolving and incorporating technologies such as blockchain and NFTs.

 Training in this field opens the doors to a world of opportunities both in Spain and other countries. It is estimated that by 2024 there will be 11,000 direct jobs and 22,000 indirect jobs in this area.

In the BISISTE Research Group we are aware of this trend and for 14 years we have been launching the Master's Degree in Digital Animation at the University of Salamanca, which offers a specialisation in 3D video game development. It involves working professionals who develop their careers in major studios and will provide you with the tools you need to create video games as a specialist.

Find out more and enrol here

Share this post

 
 
If you continue browsing this website, you agree to our policies.
I agree to the site policies and terms of use
View policies