Portugal is a fast-growing European region for games, despite a recent withdrawal of games retail in the area.
According to the latest Video Games in Europe Consumer Study, conducted by data analytics outlet Ipsos MediaCT in partnership with industry trade body ISFE, 40 per cent of Portugal’s population engages with video games at least once a year. One in four adults play at least once a week.
17 per cent of all consumers opt to purchase and play boxed titles, with the same proportion gaming using apps on mobile devices.
Online games attract the same size audience of both sectors combined, with 34 per cent of consumers playing such titles.
However, Portugal’s video games retail has suffered in recent years, as major outlets retreated from the area.
GameStop pulled out of the Portugese territory in January 2012, as part of its complete withdrawal from the European physical market.
Meanwhile, GAME’s Portugese stores were closed in March 2012, following the firm’s fall into administration. Cherrilux Investments purchased GAME’s 290 stores in April 2012.
The growth of the local games industry has led to the introduction of more games events aimed at both consumers and the trade.
2014 saw the inaugural Lisbon Games Week, a convention running over the course of four days that, like its sister events in the rest of Europe and the US, showcases the latest from major games companies. Approximately 50,000 visitors attended the event.
Population: 10,427,301
Capital City: Lisbon
Currency: Euro
GDP (Per Capita): $22,089
KEY RETAILERS
Worten, MediaMarkt, Fnac, Auchan, Radio Popular, Toys R Us, Pingo Doce, El Corte Ingls
TOP DISTRIBUTORS
Ecoplay, Infocapital, Koch Media, Bandai Namco
TOP DEVELOPERS
Artbit, Awaking Giants, Awesome, Spawn Studios, Tio Atum, Upfall Studios, Wingz Studio, Yucca Studios, Biodroid, BSure Interactive, Nerd Monkeys
PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION
Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, EA, Bandai Namco