Gamelab 2013: Barcelona, ​​world capital of the video game industry

The IX International Video Game and Interactive Leisure Congress will bring together hundreds of creators and companies from around the world from June 26 to 28.

The ninth edition of Gamelab It will be held from June 26 to 28, 2013 at the Filmoteca de Catalunya, in Barcelona, ​​and will bring together hundreds of video game creators and companies from all over the world.

During the three days, the International Video Game and Interactive Leisure Congress will bring together some of the great international figures of the moment.

During Gamelab 2013, the National Video Game Industry Awards will be presented, known as Pulgas, which highlight the best productions and designs of the thriving interactive entertainment sector in Spain and which are voted for by the members of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Their candidacies will be announced in the near future.

Gamelab Barcelona is one of the main European and world events in the field of training, dissemination and business of video games and interactive digital entertainment. Its main objective is to help the creation and growth of business initiatives with the ambition of global business development. Gamelab serves as both a shuttle for local companies that seek to expand their business internationally and for international companies that want to enter the market in Spain, Europe or Latin America. The content of the conferences and the networking offered by Gamelab Barcelona is also a highly valuable resource for all those students and professionals looking for guidance, training or employment in the sector.

Gamelab 2013 has the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, the Generalitat of Catalonia through the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, the Barcelona City Council and FICOD and the sponsorship of Minijuegos.com, Autodesk, Windows Phone, Arm, Chartboost, Innogames and Canada Game Nation, as well as the collaboration of Mediapro and EGCA (European Game Conference Alliance).

Some participants

• Michel Ancel creator of Rayman. Ancel was named a Knight of Arts and Literature along with Miyamoto in 2006. Rayman has been a cult game in virtually all formats, and one of the best-selling PlayStation games with 4 million copies. Now that this popular character comes of age, his creator will go to Gamelab to share with the audience details and anecdotes of his creation and evolution over time.
• Jesse Schell, the ultimate gamification guru. In his presentation, presented by FICOD (International Forum on Digital Content), Schell will explain how the principles of video game design are spreading to many other types of creation.
• Another of the stars of this edition is the visionary Minh Le, at just 22 years old, he created 'Counter-Strike', with which he revolutionized the way we view video games, being the first to conceive the potential of corporate gaming on the Internet and one of the figures who has inspired the most developers in recent times. Now he has released 'Tactical Intervention' alone, a multiplayer shooter with which he has once again broken the mold and which he will talk about in detail at Gamelab 2013.
• Tommy Palm, one of the great protagonists of the last year, creator of 'Candy Crush Saga', the most successful game on Facebook after surpassing 'Farmville 2'. As a reference designer at King.com, Palm will explain some of the company's secrets and strategy to conquer the world of social and mobile games.
• Vander Caballero aportará su personalísima experiencia como el precursor en el sector indie de la industria, diseñador de videojuegos independientes como: su ‘Papo & Yo’ que estuvo nominado en los Game Critic Awards, obtuvo una mención honorífica en los Independent Games Festival y dos nominaciones en el New York Videogame Critics Circle.
• Xavier Carrillo, one of the most international Spanish entrepreneurs, who from his company Digital Legends has created the most awarded games for mobile platforms and his latest release “Respawnables” for iPhone and iPad has been one of the hits of the year published by Zynga.