Do you remember the first time you played a video game?

Pablo Ortuzar Kunstmann

Director of Digital Game Design

Andres Bello University

For many of us, our first experience of eating video games happened in those places better known as “arcadias” or “arcades”, places where, for a few pesos, we get tickets to try our luck or our skills in playful scenarios close. fantasy, science fiction, car racing or other experiences we could not have had access to in our childhood. Those games arrived in the form of mysterious circuit boards, imported and placed in cabinets within these game galleries.

The reality of playing video games in Chile 2024 is very different, it is a fact that there is no technological or digital platform that does not have access to experience any video game, whether paid or free. We could even confirm that those people who conceived of video games as a specialized product, only for teenagers or children, today have a game installed on their mobile phone to pass the time.

In the press it is common for us to see the astronomical figures of the international video game development industry, and for several years now, within the entertainment sector, it is the one that contributes the most with an excellent performance on a global scale.

On this occasion and taking advantage of video game day, I want to mention some interesting data that will help us learn a little more about the current context of video game production in Chile.

Chile has become the Latin American country with the largest educational offer for the development and design of Video Games.

As of March 2024, there are eleven technical and undergraduate programs offering higher education aimed at developing, producing and programming video games. A huge increase, considering there were only three in 2013. The amount of supply has quadrupled in that time, not taking into account the supply of companies offering online courses or those not affiliated with institutions formal. This count also does not take into account a good number of institutions offering related careers, such as animation, design and computer science, which have begun to integrate subjects related to video game design and production into their curriculum.

Since 2010, there has been an active union of Chilean video game developers, Video Games Chile, which brings together companies and individuals who develop digital gaming products, with 24 active members throughout Chile so far and which has achieved a ranking in the industry mainly against state entities such as ProChile, Corfo and Mincap. One of the greatest achievements of this guild is clearly to have achieved a continuous presence over time at multiple international video game and business development events, such as CDC, Gamescom and Tokyogameshow among others.

Recently, international publishers have also appeared in Chile (those companies that seek to invest and finance video game projects, participating in the profits from their sales). However, they see projects closer to traditional media such as film or television with better intentions, without risking video game projects yet. Part of the spirit of a Publisher is to take risks, it is time for them to do so in the Chilean industry.

There is a commitment to public funding for the development of video games, mainly through the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage. In a second look at their funding systems, unfortunately, we see that there is an unmet demand towards applicants, due to the low amounts to be distributed. For example, the Culture Fund video game production line had only 5 winners for this year 2024, considering more than 90 applications that were left out of funding. Here one of the reasons for explaining this low conversion rate relates to the low political participation of industry members in adjusting the bases of these funds, as well as the need for active representation within the Ministry of Culture. A space determined to improve.

The elements exist to create a virtuous ecosystem between academia, industry and the state; we hope that, in the future, these elements can align to act in a coordinated manner and thereby enhance this new discipline that combines creativity, technology and local identity.