Hey there! Today we want to talk to you about Valencia (Spain), the city where we are located, and which we believe, is one of the best cities in the world for the development of video games and startups.
Valencia is an innovative and technological city that is constantly growing. It has a wide variety of companies and success stories related to the city. Among them, we have companies like:
- Elite3D who worked on important AAA projects
- Digital Sun that sold over a million copies of his renowned game Moonlighter
- Chibig Studio creators of a strong IP that has recently achieved the best Kickstarter campaign in Spain with 1M+ funding.
- Codigames which has become the king of idle f2p games
- No Spoon that stand out with casino games
- Godot Engine creator, who has recently moved to live to Valencia.
- Deconstructeam, a truly original indie studio creators of the successful games Gods Will be Watching and Red Strings Club
- Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team creators of Rise and Shine and The Knight Witch…
The list is long and will surely grow during next years.
In addition, we have the University of Castellón, the first to offer a video game degree in Spain, and other prestigious universities such as the Polytechnic University of Valencia, ESAT, Florida Universitaria or the University of Valencia, among others. All of this creates a very interesting breeding ground for the promotion of startups.
The city has great potential in terms of creativity, innovation, and technology, and is constantly evolving. Valencia has been chosen to host important technological events such as the Valencia Digital Summit or Dreamhack, and will soon host the Next Web Forum.
At the beginning of March every year, just when the festivities of Las Fallas starts to feel on the streets, takes place the Valencia Indie Summit during 3 days, a small but curated indie game festival that connects the local and national videogames industry with international publishers like Raw Fury, Team17, Microsoft, Focus Interactive, Gameloft, Neon Doctrine, etc.
Also, all around the year, every two months, takes place the events of Valencia Interactive, created and promoted by Brave Zebra, a very informal event where local game developers community meet and mingle to stay connected, beers and snacks are on the house and the event has the support of the council and Unity3D. This event has been taking place since 2014, so you can imagine how that effort has helped to flourish the local community.
In summary, there is a strong local community, well connected, with successful companies, lots of available talent and knowledge, with public support and relevant events, and at Brave Zebra we are happily involved in the creation of it.
About the city
Valencia is also known for its festivities, especially Fallas, a festival that takes place in March and is a true explosion of creativity and technology. During these festivals, the city’s residents strive to create the most impressive structures with 20+ meters high, true works of art, which are then burned in a display of spectacularity and passion.
Fallas are a very important cultural manifestation in Valencia and its metropolitan area. These festivals are celebrated during the month of March, and their culmination is from March 15 to 19.
Specifically, Fallas are designed with 3D modeling tools like ZBrush, which allow artists to create highly detailed and precise designs. In fact, many of these artists are also professionals in the world of video games since the skills required to create characters and environments in a video game are very similar to those required to design and build the Falla’s monuments.
In addition, these fallas combine many artistic and structural elements, making them true three-dimensional works of art. Each falla has a central figure and complementary characters that tell a story in 360 degrees. Therefore, it could be said that a Falla monument is like a 10 to 30 meters tall 3D comic that sits all around the city every few streets.
The most interesting thing about Fallas is their ability to modernize and adapt through time. Although these festivities are centuries old, more and more digital technologies are being used for their design and construction. And this has enormous potential since it allows creating increasingly spectacular and detailed monuments and providing work for thousands of artists and professionals in the industry.
And not only that, but Fallas are also an economic engine for the city. Throughout the year, planning, designing, and building them involves a significant economic investment. In addition, during the festivals, the city is filled with tourists who come to enjoy the Fallas and everything that surrounds them.
We could say that Fallas are much more than just a festivity event. They are a demonstration of the creativity, teamwork, and adaptability of Valencia and its metropolitan area. And all thanks to the combination of digital technologies, art, and tradition.
European Green Capital
But the best thing about Valencia, is that it’s a city where you can live well, as it has a high quality of life and a peaceful environment. It’s a city that has a great deal of green spaces and wide parks that make it very attractive to live and work in, in fact, it will be named European Green Capital in 2024.
Additionally, the cost of living in Valencia is lower than other big cities like Barcelona or Madrid, which makes it more affordable for startups and the team working in them.
Regarding our company, Brave Zebra, we’re really proud to be located in Valencia, as 90% of the team is from Valencia and the surrounding areas, and some of us are remotely working throughout Spain.
We believe this city is the best fit for our company, as it allows us to work effectively in a peaceful environment. Furthermore, we’re surrounded by other companies and professionals in the industry, which enables us to keep up with the latest trends in the world of video games and technology.
To summarize, we believe that Valencia is a city full of potential, with a wide variety of successful companies, cases related to technology and innovation, and a plethora of tech and cultural events.
So, with this we wanted to open a window to where we come from, and of course, invite you to come visit us and join some of the city events!
If you do so, don’t forget to say “Hi!” to the zebras!
