They are hiring and have an annual revenue growth of over 50 percent, but the government is not listening to them

The computer game industry in Croatia is one of the fastest-growing, with revenues growing on average by more than 50 percent annually and profits by 69 percent, along with a strong trend of export growth.

In 2014 alone, according to estimates from the Cluster of Croatian Computer Game Producers, the computer game industry generated total revenues in Croatia exceeding 50 million kuna, employed 250 people, and at least another 200 are engaged in it in their free time or as ‘freelancers’.

– Currently, about 20 companies are operating in Croatia that create computer (video) games. This involves a large number of creatives and quality developers, emphasizes the secretary of the Cluster, Ante Vrdelja, who is also a member of the Croteam team, which was among the first from Croatia to break into foreign markets with the game Serious Sam.

Vrdelja also emphasizes that domestic computer game producers export 99 percent of entertainment software, which means that Croatia is recognized as a ‘player’ in this segment on the global market, which in total value and turnover surpasses the film or music industry.

– We have realized that this segment in Croatia, both as a medium and as a business, has been unjustly neglected, which is why the Cluster was established to help develop and promote, as well as improve the business conditions of this segment, says Vrdelja.

He adds that this cluster has recently become a member of the Croatian Cluster of Competitiveness of Creative and Cultural Industries (HKKKKI), according to whose order the Zagreb Institute of Economics conducted the first research-mapping of this industry.

– Computer games are one of the fastest-growing subsectors within the creative industries, says Ivana Rašić Bakarić from that institute, presenting data from the research conducted last year, which shows that with 6.3 billion kuna, creative industries in 2015 accounted for 2.3 percent of Croatian GDP, while with 42,200 employees, they made up 7.7 percent of total employment in the economy.

Average annual revenue growth of over 55 percent

The share of computer games in the total gross added value of creative and cultural industries was close to 14 percent, placing it in fourth place, behind publishing, electronic media, and museums, galleries, and libraries, and far ahead of, for example, film, whose share in this is 4.6 percent, and ahead of advertising, with a share of 12 percent.

Data from research on the business of leading producers from 2009 to 2014 also speaks of the rapidly growing computer game industry, when their average annual growth rate of the number of employees was 31.2 percent, and even more for total revenues, at 55.5 percent.

Total revenues of leading computer game producers in 2009 amounted to just over 4 million kuna, and by 2013 they had increased to 21 million kuna, reaching 37.3 million kuna in 2014, or a growth of as much as 78 percent compared to 2013, and when the revenues of other smaller companies are added, it is estimated that revenues for 2014 exceeded 50 million kuna.

The same goes for the profits of these producers before taxation, which grow on average annually at a rate of 69 percent. Thus, in 2009, it totaled 1.1 million kuna, reached 6.6 million kuna in 2013, and in 2014 amounted to 15.6 million kuna, or 138 percent more compared to 2013.

Their exports amounted to 2.8 million kuna in 2009, reached 17.6 million kuna in 2013, and in 2014 exceeded 32 million kuna, or 84 percent more than in 2013, with a trend of further growth.

The most famous ‘gamers’ and games

In addition to the aforementioned Croteam and their game Serious Sam, among the leading ‘players’ in computer games in Croatia are also the companies Nanobit, Lion Game Lion, Dreamatrix, 2×2 Games, Binx Interactive, Cateia Games, Exordium Games, and others, which are also listed in a special catalog of the Cluster prepared specifically for investors.

The Cluster also emphasizes that in the last 20 years, nearly 30 larger computer games have been released in Croatia, of which about ten have achieved great success in the global market, including the already mentioned Serious Sam, The Talos Principle, Starpoint Gemini, Captain Brawe, Gas Guzzlers, Unity of Command, and others.

Creating computer games, or more popularly ‘gaming’, in Croatia is interesting also because it is one of the few sectors that has not been significantly affected by the crisis, and which is very important for self-employment since it mostly involves people who truly love it and involve friends in it.

– Gaming is a rare sector that showed growth in revenue, employment, and youth hiring even during the strongest crisis in Croatia from 2008 to 2011, which is important in a situation where in Croatia, as well as elsewhere in Europe, it is becoming one of the larger social and developmental problems, assesses consultant Ante Babić, who, like others connected to this industry, believes that tax relief would significantly ease their business and further growth.