The meeting of the Valencian digital ecosystem was held on 29-30 October in hybrid format. Close on one hundred professionals attended the Congress in-person at the Feria Valencia conference centre, while the conference sessions were also followed via live streaming on the Congress website. The Congress also hosted the presentation of the AVEPe Awards for the best digital entertainment companies, with recognition for the work of the firms No Spoon Lab Tech, Esat and Digital Sun.
Valencia, 9 November 2021. Objective achieved at the 2nd Valencian CommunityProfessional Video Game and Esports Congress. This meeting, organised by the AVEPe professional association together with Feria Valencia and which has once again enjoyed the firm support and backing of the Generalitat Valenciana through the Regional Ministry for Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Work, was held in hybrid format on 29-30 October at Feria Valencia. The programme could be followed in person in the Events Hall at the exhibition site and also via live streaming through the event’s website.
The meeting, inaugurated by the regional secretary for the economy, Rebeca Torró, brought together around a hundred professionals from these booming sectors, including programmers, content creators, representatives of start-ups and digital designers, who followed the two days of work live, analysing future trends in the sector and the importance of the Valencian innovative ecosystem and its development. In addition, the Congess is still alive today as all the content remain accessible on the congress web platform https://www.congresovideojuegocv.es/.
In the opinion of AVEPe’s directors, the results of the congress have notably exceeded expectations and they have drawn up a series of conclusions regarding the event. These include:
- The importance of face-to-face, interpersonal contact between key players in the Valencian video games and esports production system. In a digital production model, face-to-face contact and ‘de-virtualisation’ are more important than in other sectors. The Congress has managed to find agendas and meeting spaces in the digital economy sector, where the key players in digital entertainment have been able to meet in person in a space for reflection and decision making.
- The construction of a strictly business sector narrative. The Congress has focused on the consolidation of a close-knit, coordinated and unified professional associationism. Furthermore, it has gone beyond emergence and the idea in order to focus on consolidation and continuity as the central focus for business logic in the sector.
- Creation of links and networking. The congress has also served to establish business and professional links with comparable organisations in other sectors, especially in the textile sector, and links with second- and third-level business organisations.
- Timing of the digital entertainment sector. The Congress comes at an important time for the digital economy as the pandemic has led to an acceleration of digitalisation processes. Digital entertainment has positioned the debate at the right time and the conference should be the starting point for actions to define the ecosystem.
- Strategic decision making in the sector. The Congress should serve to provide the necessary information to make urgent decisions on coordinating the productive ecosystem for the future: unity or dispersion. The Congress has established the coordinates for unity and the active management of creative habitats as the best potential for our region.
- Recognition. The first awards ceremony to recognise long and pioneering careers in the video game and esports sector allows for a logic of permanence and long-lasting business sustainability over time, innovative content, growth in employment and turnover.
AVEPe Awards
The Congress also hosted the latest AVEPe Awards ceremony to recognise the best of the digital entertainment industry, which were structured in three categories:
1. Premi Experiència [Experience Award] for the companies and professionals who have been in the sector the longest, which went to ESAT.
2. Premi Emergents [Newcomer Award] for companies and professionals who have started and come to prominence in 2021, which went to Digital Sun.
3. Premi Responsables [Responsibility Award] for the companies that have shown the most responsible industrial behaviour towards their environment and community from the point of view of inclusivity, sustainability and diversity, which went to the company No Spoon Lab Tech.
Virtual Marketplace
It should be noted that in parallel to the Congress, a virtual marketplace was set up through the web platform www.congresovideojuegocv.es, where 38 companies showed their latest innovations, products and services, including headsets, gaming tables, computers, peripherals and new online gaming platforms (these are now available to professionals in the sector on a virtual platform that will remain active until 30 November). The conferences and speeches given at the congress are available online on the event’s official website: https:/www.congresovideojuegocv.es/