Gamelab 2019 opens with top gurus from the video game industry

Gamelab Barcelona, the international congress devoted to video games and interactive entertainment, kicked off on Wednesday in the Hesperia Tower Hotel.

The 15th edition of the congress being held in Hospitalet de Llobregat, next to the Catalan capital, brings together some of the video game industry's top gurus. 

One such is Mike Morhaime, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, who received the congress' Prize of Honour from culture minister José Guirao at the event's opening.

Other leading figures in the industry who will be present include Cory Barlog (‘God of War’), Randy Pitchford (‘Borderlands’) and David Cage (‘Detroit: Become Human’).

The event, which goes on until Friday, will welcome 1,000 professionals and 500 firms from abroad and Catalonia, where last year the industry made a turnover of 370 million euros.

Diversity, inclusion and accessibility

As well as analyzing new technologies in the sector, such as predictive learning, the event will focus on three main areas: diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

Some of the talks and roundtable debates will also focus on the new role of players as protagonists and creators in the development of stories and experiences in video games.

Among the local industry professionals attending will be the founders of Studio Nomada, Adrián Cuevas and Conrad Roset, who will talk about their first video game, ‘Gris’.

Gamelab also provides an opportunity for professionals from the sector to network and offers a forum called Indie Hub to present new and innovative independent projects.

At the opening, Guirao confirmed that, at 15% a year, Catalonia's video game sector is growing faster than "any other cultural industry," but called for more efforts in production and international distribution.