The turnover of the game development industry in Romania, which includes over 100 local studios, exceeded USD 200 million in 2019 for the first time, according to the annual study of RGDA (Romanian Game Developers' Association). The industry's turnover thus rose by 14.7% compared to 2018.

In 2019, the industry stood out through several famous games created in Romania by the large gaming studios' local offices, such as Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and EA's FIFA 2020.

According to the report's authors, five critical years are coming, when the local industry must prove its creative potential and produce original titles with international impact. The state's support would greatly help, they argue - highlighting Poland's case where such state aid resulted in over 50 game developers listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Over half (59%) of the Romanian studios are based in Bucharest, 17% in Cluj-Napoca, 7% in Iasi, 5% in Timisoara, and 3% in Brasov, the rest operating in small towns across the country.

In the industry with more than 6,000 specialists, 74.2% of studios are video game developers, while 12.1% provide quality assurance, location, and creative outsourcing services. About 10.3% of studios work as publishers for their own games, and 3.4% of studios create gaming infrastructure solutions.

The ten largest Romanian game developers by their 2019 turnover are Ubisoft Romania, Electronic Arts Romania, Gameloft Romania, Amber Studio, Playtika, Ati Studios, Super Hippo Games, Quantic Lab, King Games Studio, Bandai Namco, and Those Awesome Guys.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Pixabay.com)