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, it was announced in the annual report for 2022 presented by the Video Game Industry Association of Serbia (SGA).
According to the Association’s data, there are more than 140 gaming companies, studios and teams working in Serbia that actively develop video games and 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 team 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,” Obućina said, adding that more than half of those surveyed plan to expand teams, so this year, according to announcements, 330 new jobs should be created.
According to her, 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.
Also, 126 foreigners work in this industry in Serbia, and all employees stay in the companies for a long time, adds Obućina. The average is five years, and in that sense, Serbia is in line with trends in the global industry.
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,” said Bobić and added that games for mobile phones make up about 45 percent of all produced games. and PC games are close to that percentage, and that most of the revenue comes from the markets of the USA, Germany and Great Britain.
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.
This year, PKS will support the performance of domestic gaming companies at the international fair in Cologne, which, according to Vesović, is one of the ways to support the promotion of this industry on the international market.