The revenue of the 15 most successful gaming companies in Serbia amounted to 150 million euros in 2022, which is about 10 percent more than the year before, according to the annual report for 2022 presented today by the Association of the Video Game Industry of Serbia (SGA).
In Serbia, there are more than 140 gaming companies, studios and teams working actively on the development of video games, which employ more than 2,500 people, said the executive manager of SGA Serbia, Kristina Janković Obućina.
As she pointed out, 30 percent of all employees are women, as well as half of all chapter leaders. “51 games were published in Serbia last year, and 94 are currently under development. Games produced in Serbia were bought or downloaded more than 100 million times last year,” said Obućina.
She added that more than half of those surveyed plan to expand their teams, so this year, according to announcements, 330 new jobs should be opened.
She also stated that it is the most difficult to find staff for three positions in this sector, namely producers, similar to the film industry, then user acquisition experts and all types of managers.
She emphasized that 46 percent of the association’s members employed students, that is, graduates after internships, and 54 percent of companies provide internships, of which 44 percent are paid internships.
SGA program director Relja Bobić emphasized that the gaming industry in Serbia has a continuous growth of 10 to 20 percent per year in terms of income, number of employees, number of games produced in Serbia.
“The main challenges for domestic companies are excessive taxes, but also double taxation with the USA, so some companies are forced to register their branches in some European countries,” he said.
The problem, according to him, Is the alignment of education with the needs of the industry.
“Every year, between 300 and 400 new positions are opened in the Serbian gaming industry, and these are some creative disciplines, as well as those related to technology,” said Bobić.
He added that mobile phone games make up about 45 percent of all produced games, and PC games are close to that percentage. “The biggest part of the income comes from the markets of the USA, Germany and Great Britain,” said Bobić.
Director of the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalization of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Mihailo Vesović, reminded that the gaming industry in Serbia has officially existed since 2017, and that annual research shows a constant growth of 10 percent, which is also expected in 2023.
“The effects of the development of the gaming industry are manifold positive for the Serbian economy. There is a lot of talk about the now traditional industries such as communications or IT, and little about gaming, which is a globally growing sector worth 350 billion dollars and has constant growth,” Vesović said.
He pointed out that Serbia has significant potential for further growth in the gaming industry, which depends not only on IT engineers, but also on screenwriters and graphic designers.
“Not only technical, but also social sciences are permeated here, which many people do not see fundamentally and evaluate it only as an IT sector,” Vesović said.
He believes that the state should conclude an agreement with the USA on the avoidance of double taxation, as well as encourage secondary vocational schools and colleges to train personnel who can contribute to the growth of the gaming industry.
“We need 500 to 1,000 new engineers, but also designers, directors, screenwriters, artists, who could find their future in the gaming industry,” said Vesović.
This year, PKS will support the performance of domestic gaming companies at the International Gaming Fair in Cologne, which, according to Vesović, is one of the ways to support the promotion of this industry on the international market.
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