The annual video game industry fair moves from Madrid to Barcelona

Barcelona (CNA).- From the 6th until the 9th of October, Barcelona will host the main annual video game fair in Spain, which until now has been held in Madrid. This was announced by the Spanish Video Games Association (AEVI), which will host the event along with Fira de Barcelona. The video game-centred fair is called ‘Barcelona World Games’, which will replace the original name ‘Madrid Games Week’. The event will take place at the Montjuïc exhibition centre, and will gather together the leading companies in the industry, which are to present the new products to be expected for the Christmas season. The general director of AEVI, José María Moreno, released a statement saying that that the fair will be "an opportunity to find new audiences and markets, generate synergy between industry professionals and discover the potential of gaming in the fields of economy, culture and education".

The fair will consist of different elements. The first part, Games Expo, will display “the main video game brands in the field, with different interactive areas to test the new upcoming releases”. Games Pro, to be held on the 6^th of October, will be open “only to professionals”, and will include “an extensive activity schedule created to inspire, teach, connect and build an interesting contact network”. The Games Arena, described by the organisation as “sheer emotion and show”, will “showcase the most prestigious video game leagues and battles, with the best national and international gamers being involved”. Lastly, an outdoor event called Games Party will be additionally staged on Plaça de l’Univers by the fairgrounds, which the event refers to as its “greenbelt”, and describes as “an interesting blend of street food, relax areas and entertainment”; this side of the event will focus primarily on video game culture and include features such as manga and music.

The newly-organised Barcelona World Games comes at a time when the video game market has established itself as the primary Spanish audio-visual industry, generating more than one billion Euros per annum. In Spain, there are more than 13 million video game users, according to the European Federation of Interactive Software (ISFE).

As part of the fair, the AEVI will also organise a forum for discussion of the main national and international challenges of the sector. The economic outlook of the industry will additionally be addressed with experts and institutional heads.

Madrid responds by announcing the celebration of the Madrid Gaming Experience

Meanwhile, Madrid has stated that the Spanish capital will continue to hold its video game trade show, and announced the celebration of the Madrid Gaming Experience, from the 27^th of October to the 1^st of November at the IFEMA Madrid fairgrounds, replacing the Madrid Games Week. However, the aforementioned event will not be organised by the AEVI, which represents the entire production chain of the video game industry in Spain and consists of 14 companies, representing over 90% of the Spanish market’s consumption.

Some companies that are part of AEVI are: Activision-Blizzard, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, GAME, Koch Media, Microsoft, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Nintendo, Novarama, Sony Computer Entertainment, Badlands Games, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft and Warner Interactive.