In the production of video games in Serbia, there are currently about 2,500 people employed. At any given moment, every day, for jobs in one of the most promising but also youngest industries, where the average age of employees is around 35, more than 100 people are being sought.
At least that’s confirmed by the data from the platform of the Association of the Video Game Industry of Serbia, where all currently open positions in gaming are compiled. The latest report from this association, which has around 130 members, including large companies with more than 100 employees, as well as many medium and small studios, shows that 30% of all employees are women.
In addition, half of all team leaders are also women, which is a much higher percentage than in Europe. The annual profit in the gaming industry amounts to 150 million euros, as per the latest available data, with the 15 largest companies in Serbia generating revenue from video games.
As highlighted by Kristina Janković Obućina, the executive manager of the association, companies in the gaming industry face numerous challenges.
“The biggest problem is that companies have no income until the game is released, or until the production they are working on is completed. Teams sometimes work on something for several years without any earnings. The question is how they then invest, but unfortunately, there are currently no funds in Serbia dedicated exclusively to gaming, unlike Italy, Germany, and France. This is also reflected in the number of published video games on an annual basis,” states Kristina Janković Obućina.
Is there any indication that this will change in Serbia?
The association has already discussed some accelerator programs, and there has been a lot of talk about incentives that exist, unlike the earlier period when there were none at all. For example, now there are tax incentives for all teams involved in innovative developments and research. There is progress, but small teams still have nowhere to turn, and that is a problem, emphasizes Kristina Janković Obućina.
Generally, in the world, 90% of the workforce in the gaming industry is self-taught, so formal education does not play a decisive role in employment.
An additional problem is the lack of seniors, i.e., experienced workers. The reason for this is that the gaming industry as an economic sector has existed relatively briefly, and serious developments in this field have only started to happen in the last decade. So, employees in gaming could not even physically gain more experience than they have today, she adds.
There is a prevailing opinion that only programmers and those involved in animation work in the video game industry. However, this is not the case, as people with a wide range of occupations are engaged in this business.
We have people who write, create music, engage in production, and those from the human resources and marketing sectors… Last summer, we launched a new one that currently features a database of 45 job positions in gaming, with each position being individually explained – lists Kristina Janković Obućina.
