The Romanian video game industry reported a turnover of 218 million dollars, in 2020, increasing by 19.1% compared to the previous year, according to the data of the annual study conducted by the Association of Romanian Video Game Developers (RGDA), consulted of AGERPRES.
During the analyzed period, 22 titles were developed locally, including the famous Watch Dogs: Legion and FIFA21, created in the local offices of Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. The independent studios also stood out with several titles that gained international recognition: Door Kickers 2: Task Force North (KillHouse Games), Zombieland: AFK Survival (Metagame) or Football Rivals (Green Horse Games).
According to the report, during 2020 and the first part of this year, the local industry did not feel the effects of the health crisis, but enjoyed considerable interest from developers abroad. Thus, the GreenHorse Games studio was purchased by Miniclip, Whyttest was bought by the Testronic group, and AMC Romania by Keywords Studios, informs Agerpres.
In addition, several international studios have opened offices in Romania: Funcom, Kolibri Games, Wolcen or Ten Square Games.
The number of studios developing local video games has increased, from 100 in 2019 to 120 in 2020, and over half of them (52%) are in Bucharest, 15% in Cluj-Napoca, 5% in Iasi and Timisoara, respectively 3% in Brasov.
Two out of ten studios (20%) operate in small towns in the country, such as: Botoşani, Târgu Mureş, Alexandria, Brăila, Arad or Turda.
The RGDA study reveals that 68% of all local studios are video game developers (original or licensed IPs), while 7.5% identify as service providers and part-time developers, 13.2 % are service providers, 7% are publishers and only three companies create tools for gaming infrastructure.
At the same time, 53% of Romanian companies, specialized in video games, have accessed or intend to access external financing while developing products.
In the top ten most important Romanian companies, according to turnover, were in 2020: Ubisoft Romania, Electronic Arts Romania, Gameloft Romania, Amber Studio, Playtika, Ati Studios, Super Hippo Games, Quantic Lab, Green Horse Games and AMC Romania.
Currently, over 6,000 specialists work in Romanian video game development studios.
The RGDA research was announced for the first time at Dev.Play, the conference of video game developers in Romania and Eastern Europe, which took place online on October 25 and 26, 2021.
Dev.Play organized a ten-hour marathon in which video game enthusiasts and early-stage developers were able to watch sequences and gameplay from 20 independent games developed between 2020 and 2021. The event was watched by over 300,000 unique, multi-channel visitors such as Steam, Twitch, YouTube and Pine, say the conference organizers.
The Romanian Game Developers Association is a non-profit organization that aims to support and promote video game developers in Romania.
