Zagreb, January 23, 2024 - The computer game development industry is constantly growing, both globally and in Croatia, where today we gather an exceptional number of young talents and knowledge for the further development of creative projects, the legendary video game designer and producer pointed out in his keynote speech. John Alfonso Romero, at the Future Perspectives of Game Development conference, which was held yesterday at the University of Algebra in Zagreb.
The video game development industry (game development) in the world in 2022 generated revenues of about 185 billion US dollars, and by 2025 globally this figure will exceed 300 billion dollars, making it one of the most profitable and fastest growing sectors of the world economy.
The conference was opened by associate professor, Ph.D. Mislav Balković, rector of the University of Algebra: "Last year we held our first Global Game Jam and launched an undergraduate professional study of computer game development, all in celebration of 25 years, which we crowned with the status of a University. We are happy that we are slowly but strongly building a game dev and gaming community in Algebra - yesterday our students held the first esports tournament entirely organized by our University, with the support of our partners Telemach Hrvatska and White Shark, and today after the conference we are opening Global Game Jam that will once again gather a bunch of young enthusiasts and creatives ready to make their first games. Croatia can certainly become a place where the computer and video game industry will develop and grow, especially now that the new S3 Strategy has the entire ICT community focused on greater productivity of the sector."
Romero's keynote speech began with a story about his difficult childhood, full of moves, accidents and very difficult life situations. Born in Colorado, as an American of Cherokee and Mexican roots, by the age of ten he lived through horror worse than is present in most of his games, and it was this unfortunate life story that encouraged him to develop a career characterized by extreme efforts and an exemplary work ethic. By the end of the eighties, he had already developed numerous games, while at the beginning of the nineties he turned to 3D graphics and games from the FPS genre, which brought a revolution to the video game market. The first game they developed within their own id Software company was Wolfenstein 3D, which was based on a popular game from the eighties, and was developed in just 4 months, but the most demanding game on which he worked for the longest time was definitely Quake, from which they later developed numerous other successful games. Romero is still best known for Doom, which he played yesterday in Algebra with his biggest fans without losing a single game.
In addition to Romer, the conference was attended by many well-known faces from the domestic computer and video game development industry, and the panel on new technologies and AI discussed the opportunities and possible turbulences that will be faced by creatives in teams that do not adapt sufficiently to technology. quickly.
"Global Game Jam is an opportunity for all young enthusiasts to, in addition to playing, try their hand at the demanding skill of creating their own games by working in diverse teams. White Shark is proud to support GGJ and the esports competition organized by Algebra University, which we believe will be even better than last year. Our mission is aimed at encouraging responsible and sustainable gaming and developing games that are a quality incentive for young people to build an entrepreneurial spirit, while thinking about security in an increasingly challenging online environment" - said Stjepan Šmit, founder and owner of the White Shark brand, which this year provided rich awards for Algebra's esports tournament and Global Game Jam.
Source: GameHub, 23.01.2024.