The Gaming Hub is the first of these hubs initiated by Lisbon City Council and Unicorn Factory Lisboa, aligning with the city’s objective to create communities and hubs centered on innovation in burgeoning sectors. The primary goal of the Gaming Hub is to facilitate the growth of the video games industry by fostering synergies among startups, investors, and multinational companies.
The Gaming Hub will host new business acceleration and incubation programs, serving as a central meeting point for the gaming community. Its launch is a collaborative effort with Fortis Games, a technology company that recently set up operations in Lisbon, Maleo, an office space management company, and APVP (Association of Portuguese Video Game Producers), representing local companies in the industry.
According to Statista Market Insights, the video games industry in Portugal is presently valued at 365 million euros, with projections indicating a global industry value of over 450 billion euros by 2030, as per GlobalData. The Gaming Hub, situated on Avenida da República in Lisbon, aims to position the Saldanha area as the city’s new “Innovation District,” alongside existing centers such as the Técnico Innovation Centre and Fintech House.
The new space, spanning two floors, comprises 13 private rooms and 12 coworking spaces, with Fortis Games as the anchor tenant occupying an entire floor. Various organizations, including OnTop Studios, GameDev Técnico, and virtual members, such as Volt Games and Infinity Games, are also part of the hub. In line with Unicorn Factory Lisboa’s focus on scalability, the Gaming Hub emphasizes creating synergies among mentors, investors, and companies within the industry.
Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas remarked on the significance of the Gaming Hub and Unicorn Factory Lisboa’s overall contribution to the city’s economy, citing the creation of 10,000 jobs. Gil Azevedo, Executive Director of Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Startup Lisboa, emphasized the hub’s role in bringing together innovative companies, universities, leading industry players, investors, and talent to stimulate the growth of the gaming ecosystem in Portugal.
As part of its specialization strategy, Unicorn Factory plans to establish new communities and innovation centers in high-growth areas such as AI, Web3, and XR, with collaboration agreements already in place with organizations active in each vertical.
As Mobidictum we previously co-organized an event with GamingHub in the facilities before its official opening. We will organize another network event in Lisbon on April 15-16, 2024. We are reviewing sponsorship deals and will announce the sponsors for this event, which aligns with the city’s efforts to foster innovation in high-growth sectors, including the video games industry, as showcased by the inauguration of the Gaming Hub by Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Lisbon City Council. The convergence of such initiatives highlights Lisbon’s commitment to becoming a hub for innovation and collaboration in the gaming and technology sectors.
The Founder and Managing Director of Mobidictum, Batuhan Avucan, said:
“I loved how the Portuguese are looking after their gaming ecosystem. So many developments will happen! We are excited to partner up with Gaming Hub to organize our first event in Lisbon. Many more will come.”
NEXT: Overwolf paid $201 million to in-game creators in 2023
