SAGA Barcelona Game Fest presents itself as the great video game event of Southern Europe

• The new event will host, from October 9 to 11, more than 14,000 m² of video games, activities and industry at the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona

• Boosting the Catalan ecosystem, promoting talent and international projection are consolidated as the main pillars of the project

• Confirmed participants include Japanese composers Miki Higashino and Manami Matsumae, reinforcing the link with Japan as guest country

• Catalan will be the official language of the event in response to an established community: a survey now reveals that 7 out of 10 players would choose to play in Catalan if the game allowed it.

 

Barcelona, July 30, 2026. SAGA Barcelona Game Fest today unveiled its first edition at a press conference at the Palau Marc, which brought together the driving organizations, institutional representatives and industry professionals. The new event, to be held from October 9 to 11 at the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona and expected to welcome more than 20,000 people, aims to become the great meeting point for video games in Southern Europe, bringing together industry, creators, professionals and the gaming community.

The presentation featured the participation of SAGA Barcelona Game Fest co-spokesperson David Poudevida; event representatives Raquel Torreño and Carles Garcia; the Director General of Language Policy in the Technological and Audiovisual Fields of the Government of Catalonia, Roger Serra; the Barcelona City Council’s Commissioner for the Social Use of Catalan, Marta Salicrú; and Conrad Roset, creative director of Nomada Studio and author of the official poster for this first edition, who presented the new visual identity of SAGA Barcelona Game Fest.

Roger Serra reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to developing an industry that is strategic for the country and highlighted that SAGA Barcelona Game Fest represents a new stage for video games in Catalonia. «It is much more than a new video game trade show: it is a project that grows the sector, boosts talent and consolidates Catalan as a language of creation, gaming and community», he stated. According to Serra, the aim is for SAGA to be not only a showcase of Catalan-language game production but also a meeting point for Catalan-speaking players: «When we strengthen communities, we also strengthen the video game ecosystem in our country,» he concluded.

For her part, Marta Salicrú stressed the importance of incorporating a linguistic perspective into an event of this kind. «We need to normalize the presence of Catalan also at trade fairs with an international vocation. The video game sector is strategic because it addresses, among others, the young population, and because it helps generate new linguistic uses in the digital sphere,» she stated.

More than 14,000 m² of video games, shows, competitions, family activities and professional spaces

SAGA Barcelona Game Fest representative Raquel Torreño explained that the move to the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona will allow for a much more complete experience. «SAGA Barcelona Game Fest is taking a step forward. This new space allows us to grow, incorporate new formats and turn the fair into a meeting point for the whole video game community,» she stated.

The first edition will occupy the more than 14,000 m² offered by the fairground and will bring together more than 400 gaming stations with offerings for all audiences. Visitors will be able to discover classic and contemporary video games, virtual reality, simulation and eSports spaces, as well as a program with more than 80 activities including conferences, workshops, competitions, shows and a new family zone designed so that children, young people and adults can share the video game experience.

The cultural and educational dimension will also be one of the fair’s distinctive features. The program will include conferences and round tables with professionals, content creators and international speakers, aimed at both the general public and industry specialists.

In addition, the venue will host the Catalonia Video Game Museum (MUVIC), with a tour through the history of video games and guided visits in Catalan throughout the weekend; the Famicase Collection exhibition, arriving from Tokyo with 250 cartridges illustrated by artists from around the world; the Glitch Collection experimental video game space; and the IndieDevDay Awards.

A shared project with a vision for the future

Carles Garcia highlighted that SAGA Barcelona Game Fest is born from the union of three initiatives that, in recent years, have helped grow the video game ecosystem in Catalonia: BCN Game Fest, driven by the Catalan Institute for Alternative Leisure and New Technologies (ICOA); RetroBarcelona; and SAGA Saló del Gaming, organized by Plataforma per la Llengua.

This alliance gives rise to a shared project that takes a step forward in scale, ambition and international projection: «It stems from the desire to combine experiences and build a shared project, with a vision for the future and capable of representing the full diversity of the sector,» he explained.

Garcia also highlighted the aim for SAGA Barcelona Game Fest to become a space for connection among all the sector’s stakeholders. «We want the fair to be a meeting point where creators, studios, publishers, investors, educational centers and professionals can generate new opportunities and help grow the video game ecosystem,» he stated. To this end, the business area is expected to exceed 1,200 meetings among studios, publishers, investors and professionals.

SAGA Barcelona Game Fest will also be a space to connect the industry with the talent of the future. University centers and schools specializing in video games will take part with their own booths to present their educational offerings and the projects developed by their students.

A window to the world for Catalan talent

International projection will be one of the major pillars of SAGA Barcelona Game Fest. This first edition will feature delegations from Japan, the event’s guest country, and Portugal, with the aim of fostering exchange between the Catalan industry and some of the world’s leading video game ecosystems.

A collaboration has also been established with ChinaJoy, the leading video game trade fair in the Asian market. As a result of this alliance, ChinaJoy is currently exhibiting five video games selected and submitted by SAGA Barcelona Game Fest itself, a first step to strengthen ties between the Catalan ecosystem and the leading international markets.

This commitment is complemented by the presence of some of the industry’s most prominent figures, such as Japanese composers Miki Higashino, composer of the soundtrack for the Suikoden saga, and Manami Matsumae, a composer linked to several Capcom titles and creator of the original soundtrack for Mega Man, one of the most iconic franchises in video game history.

The fair will also feature leading studios and publishers such as The Behemoth, Devolver Digital and Super Rare Games, as well as professionals linked to internationally renowned studios such as Larian Studios and Gameloft, who will share their experience with visitors and attending professionals.

Catalan, an inseparable element of SAGA Barcelona Game Fest

SAGA Barcelona Game Fest co-spokesperson David Poudevida highlighted that Catalan will be one of the fair’s cross-cutting pillars. «We want Catalan to be present with full normality in every area of SAGA Barcelona Game Fest: in the video games, in the activities, in the professional spaces and also in the broadcasts,» he stated.

Poudevida also highlighted an unprecedented figure presented during the event. According to a survey commissioned by Plataforma per la Llengua from the Cabinet for Social Studies and Public Opinion (GESOP), seven out of ten people who play video games would choose to do so in Catalan if that option were available: «The demand is there. The challenge is for supply to be able to meet it,» he stated. Moreover, among the Catalan-speaking population, this proportion rises to 86.7%, that is, nearly 9 out of 10 people.

In this regard, SAGA Barcelona Game Fest will feature around sixty video games available in Catalan, activities mostly conducted in this language, simultaneous translation service when needed, and signage indicating the languages available in the video games, among other measures to promote Catalan.

During the press conference, the new visual identity of SAGA Barcelona Game Fest was also presented, created by Conrad Roset, of Nomada Studio, author of the acclaimed video games GRIS and Neva. The new poster, featuring references to video games from different eras and styles, symbolizes this new stage of the project and the aim to establish Barcelona as one of Europe’s video game capitals.

Resources