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Pocket Gamer Connects heads to Barcelona next month on June 3rd to 4th.

In the build up to the event, we've been reaching out to speakers and local companies to get their views on the Barcelona games hub and wider Spanish sector.

We caught up with Scopely director of operations Néstor Pequeño about the Monopoly Go developer's significant presence in the country, where it employs more than 1,000 staff.

: Since Scopely arrived in Spain, specifically in Barcelona in 2017 (thanks to the encouragement of Scopely co-CEO and native Spaniard, Javier Ferreira), we’ve witnessed and proudly been an important part of a remarkable growth in the video games industry across the country. 

This has been especially true in mobile gaming, where the Barcelona region has experienced strong momentum.

We opened our office here in Barcelona with just five employees and today we have over 1,000 team members across Spain, with more than 75% based in Barcelona and the broader Catalonia region. 

Barcelona is now our largest hub in the world with a multidisciplinary team that develops, designs, markets, and supports games. One of the key reasons Barcelona has grown into our largest location is its ability to attract top professionals from around the world.

It’s a city and an industry where many nationalities come together, fostering creativity, innovation, and diversity. The city has an energy that is hard to match, and makes people want to stay, grow and succeed.

We also have a vibrant office in Sevilla and remote employees across Spain. We’ve been able to grow so rapidly in the region, not just organically via recruiting, but also through strategic investments and acquisitions of game studios across the country.

Scopely acquired Omnidrone games studio in Barcelona in 2022, GSN Games, which had an office in Barcelona, in 2021, and Genjoy game studio in Sevilla in 2020. Now, seven years after first planting roots in Spain, we are now the largest games company by both headcount and revenue in the country.

We see a number of exciting opportunities for the video games industry in Spain and more precisely in Barcelona. As the global market continues to grow, Barcelona has already established itself as a hub with deep expertise in mobile game development.

That said, much of this recognition is still largely linked to mobile gaming, while the console and PC space remains less developed by comparison.

However, with the industry moving increasingly toward cross-platform experiences, where gameplay is expected to be seamless regardless of the device, this trend presents an opportunity for both Spain and Barcelona to expand their talent pool and capabilities in these areas.

At Scopely, we’ve already taken some important steps in this direction. Stumble Guys, which originally launched as a mobile-first game, evolved last year into a full cross-platform experience, available on PC and console.

We believe this is a strong example of the kind of opportunity that exists here, not just to grow, but to be part of the wave of cross-platform gaming experiences.

The Spanish games industry is highly fragmented, with a large number of small studios. Around two thirds of game studios in Spain have fewer than 10 employees.

While this indie spirit brings creativity and innovation, it also means that very few companies reach the scale required to compete on a global level.

The limited access to resources for the majority of these small studios makes it difficult for them to grow beyond the indie stage.

The success of Barcelona has been able to attract a critical mass of video games studios, tech companies and skilled professionals.

It’s home to Scopely, the largest gaming company in Spain, but also is home to other major players like Socialpoint (Zynga), King, Gameloft, Ubisoft, Riot, among many others. This concentration has built a strong foundation for the industry that attracts and retains an enormous pool of experienced talent.

Additionally, Barcelona offers a quality of life and cost advantage compared to other international locations.

The appealing lifestyle makes it easier to attract and retain creative professionals, often at a lower cost of living, and lower operating costs for companies than in other European cities.

Globally, the video games market is expected to continue growing steadily, with mobile gaming leading the growth, driven by new technologies, expanding communities, evolving player habits, and increasingly polished gaming experiences.

This positive global trend can only benefit cities like Barcelona, which already has a strong foundation of talent and industry presence, including organisations like The Spanish Video Game Association (AEVI), Desarrollo Español de Videojuegos (DEV), and the Catalonian DeviCAT. 

One of the challenges our talent acquisition teams often face is a talent gap in some key areas. Addressing this requires both long term solutions and short term strategies.

On the long-term side, we are excited when we see universities and training centres aligning their curricula with the evolving needs of the industry, for instance, offering more specialised courses in game programming, production, technical art or data analytics.

The challenge is that the industry evolves much faster than most academic programmes do. Shortening the adaptation cycles between educational content and real industry demands would help foster more local and young talent, better prepared to meet the needs of the studios.

In the short-term, bringing industry professionals closer to education could make a real difference. Some programmes are already doing this, but expanding opportunities for professionals to teach, mentor, or give guest lectures could help bridge the gap more effectively.

Who do you see as the key players in the Barcelona games scene?

When it comes to identifying the key players in Barcelona, we see Scopely as a leading force in mobile gaming, not just in the city, but across Spain.

Our studio is the largest in the country, and right here is where we develop some of the world’s most successful mobile games based on both original and beloved IPs like Monopoly, Star Trek,and more.

We are also proud to have our core technology platform, Playgami, developed and based in Barcelona, delivering unique services that power all our games globally. On top of that, our inhouse creative marketing and agency team produces outstanding visual content that helps us connect with players around the world.

That said, we’re very mindful that we are part of a much broader and highly talented ecosystem.

 The presence of other world class companies like King, Zynga, Ubisoft, Digital Legends, and Riot not only raises the bar, but also inspires us to keep pushing forward.

We feel fortunate to grow and collaborate within such a competitive environment.