Blue Brain Games

SLOVAK GAME INDUSTRY 2018

THIS IS OUR FIRST If you had asked me some years ago how many game developers were working on projects in Slovakia, in the best case scenario I most likely would only have been able to hazard a guess. And that guess would probably have been inaccurate.

Nearly a decade ago we laid the humble foundations for what would become a platform that connects third parties outside the industry as well as govern- ment agencies with the ever-growing local games industry with +30 years of experience. We continue to seek various questions, yet our vision remains clear: to create a sustainable ecosystem from education to accelerating business, from investors to state support, from innovative ideas to releasing a product worldwide.

Early pioneers energised by the fledgling DYI scene blossoming behind the barren Iron Curtain are now industry leaders - they help to shape new gen- erations of game developers which are hungry for new skills and experience.

If you asked me today how many game developers are working in Slovakia, I would be able to give you a clear answer: and you are holding it in your hand.

For the very first time, we’re uniting game development studios and professionals to highlight a market that has a wide range of studios and talents.

This is our inaugural brochure publication - and marks the beginning of many more activities. This is the story of Slovak game developers.

Marian Ferko, president SGDA State of the Slovak Games Industry Report

Slovakia’s game development industry growth is gaining pace - the number of Games Slovak projects published globally will reach 300 with yearly turnover of more 55 released in 2017 than EUR 42 million in 2018. According to the survey con- Yearly turnover ducted with 35 companies by the Slovak Game Developers Asso- 2018 ciation during Q1 2018 , 580 pro- 2015 2016 2017 fessionals across all disciplines 42.7 (technical and art) will be work- 20.9 24.1 36.1 appx ing in the games industry by the end of 2018 in Slovakia. Never- The estimated turnover of Slovak computer and digital game creators will theless, due to a lack of skilled reach EUR 42.7 million in 2018, which represents year-on-year growth of 18% labour force - especially comput- - a growth trend that will create approximately 100 new jobs this year alone. er programmers and designers - over half of respondents already employ and/or are considering Number of professionals mber employing professionals from u N o abroad. This disparity between

f local supply and demand for the

580 C necessary employees will in-

436 476 appx o crease in coming years.

35 m s

e p i a n Games 2016 2017 2018 268 released so far Next project will be Fifty-five projects available on all 80 released on: distribution platforms were Investment 70 published globally last year. 11% 23% outside of the 60 games industry 50 More than 300 gaming 40 projects for all available Source of 14% Self-Funding 30 platforms, including vir- funding 20 tual reality and augment- for the Publisher 10 62,5% 44% 40% 19% 15,6% 12,5% 9% 26%

ed reality, have been 9% company 0 Self-Funding

OS published globally so far ı PS4 One +State Grants

Xbox by participating companies. VR/AR Other 43%

Switch Studios in Slovakia develop Others Android

PC Steam more than one project on average.

The majority of studios in Slovakia More than 50 projects across all rely on self-publishing (60%), while Current State Support development stages have been sup- only 12% are using third-party dis- In the last 2 years more ported and co-funded by the Slovak tribution and publishing services. than 50 projects across all Art Council with over EUR 650,000 in Roughly the same percentage (57%) stages of development were the last two years. only invest their own funds in proj- supported via Slovak Arts ects, and only 26% of survey respon- Council with dents have utilised the Slovak Arts Council’s support for multimedia work so far. 650.000€

STUDIOS DAYZ by BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE Beta, Game Beta, preview, in development state: 4|Current /Playstation One /Xbox PC Target platform: lethal. be can mistake every lives, extra or saves game without –and counts decision Every players. to given help or tutorials, in built waypoints, no are There gameplay. emergent ever-evolving the from arising emotions and events powerful experience can Players possible. as long as for landscape post-apocalyptic harsh the in to survive DayZ is a gritty, authentic, open-world survival horror hybrid-MMO game in which players pursue a single goal: goal: asingle pursue players which in game hybrid-MMO horror survival open-world authentic, agritty, is BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE www.bohemia.net

Independent game development studio that focuses on creating original and state-of-the-art video games. Pursuing aspects of simulation and freedom, Bohemia Interactive has built up a diverse product portfolio that includes the popular Arma® and Take On® series, DayZ®, Ylands®, VIGOR®, and various other proprietary software. With its high-profile intellectual properties, multiple development teams across several locations, and own motion-capturing and sound recording studio, Bohemia Interactive has become a key player in the PC game enter- tainment industry.

Based in Bratislava Founded in 2014 45 members

Selected published titles: ARMA, VIGOR, DAYZ