According to the latest data, Catalonia is home to a total of 200 companies dedicated to the development of video games. Most of them are studios with less than five employees and with relatively small budgets. However, there are also large international companies such as King, Ubisoft or Smilegate, commonly known as "triple A" studios, which have decided to locate some of their offices in the city of Barcelona.
One of the greatest exponents in terms of these large video game companies is IOI Barcelona, founded in 2021. It is one of the four studios spread throughout the world (Copenhagen, Malmö and Istanbul) that make up IO Interactive, the creators from the famous Hitman saga. We spoke with Eduard López (Barcelona, 1981), the director of IOI Barcelona, about how the studio works and the characteristics of its blockbusters.
What does it mean that IOI Barcelona videogames are triple A?
I have always understood triple A as a blockbuster that consists of three elements: a maximum level of quality, a depth in the game mechanics and a great size and scope. What does this mean? Well, they are productions in which hundreds of people work for years to make a single game. And that's what we do at IO Interactive.
What are you currently working on?
The only thing we can say is that we are working on a James Bond video game, the new project for agent 007. We are also developing what is called "Project Fantasy" and we continue to work on the Hitman universe, creating more content and improving the trilogy.
And how do these types of productions differ from an independent project?
Typically, an indie company is made up of three to fifteen people making a smaller game. They tend to innovate a lot and have a quality that is very good, but without ever having the level of detail of a triple A. To make a game of such quality, length and depth you need a very large investment, a lot of money.
It seems complicated to make a triple A.
In general, we could say that it can take between two and seven years. It depends on the type of project you want to do and the experience the team has. Making video games is hard. And finishing a game and making it look good is extremely difficult. There are so many people with different specializations that have to work together and they have to fit well... The bigger the game and the team, the more risks there are: that the game won't work, that you won't have time to finish it, that things will complicate you...
How many workers are there in your studio?
I can't tell you exactly how many people we are now, because we don't talk about the number of people we have. I could tell you that we have been growing. Currently, we have a building in Barcelona with two operating floors that are full of developers. But in total we are hundreds of people between the different locations.
Hundreds of people spread over four different cities cooperating on the same project. How does all this work?
We have a very innovative way of working in this regard. And it is that we are multiple studios but a single team. Anyone working in Barcelona has the same opportunities, responsibilities and career as anyone working in Denmark or Sweden. And this is one of the great advantages that we have in IO. All day we are doing meetings with each other. The teams work and communicate through video calls, emails...
And aren't there cultural clashes between the different studios?
We work as a single team, all equally. But the culture, the way of doing things and past experience do affect what you know and how you work. And this, from my experience, in video games has always been like that. In triple-A companies there has always been a lot of cultural diversity because we have always been looking for the best talent from all over the world. However, there are common values and objectives that allow us to work in the same direction.
How is the video game situation in Barcelona?
The video game industry in the city is better than ever and more and more blockbuster companies are coming. When I started, there was only one studio that made console games and another that made smaller ones. There wasn't much choice and that's why I left. Instead, I would say that there are now 6 or 7 triple A studios in Barcelona. The thing is growing and I think that this will go further.
In recent years, different controversies have arisen about large video game companies that overexploited their employees in the final stages of a production. Does it also happen in Catalonia?
In the video game world it is called crunch, but in the rest of the world it is called "overtime" and in all sectors it has been done and is being done. From what I know now, I think that very little happens in Catalonia. The situation has improved a lot. We take great care that we don't have to crunch and we haven't done it yet in Barcelona.
What are your forecasts for the future?
I feel that we are currently a very active player in Catalonia. We participate a lot with the community, we collaborate a lot with institutions, with other studios... In the future, we want to grow more and become even more of a world leader in video game development. We hope to release video games that the whole world knows are made in Barcelona.
