The video game industry is larger than the music and film industries combined, and it’s only growing; in 2024, global videos game market revenue exceeded $184 billion.
Kiyoshi Tsuru, General Director of the Mexican Interactive Entertainment Association (GDMX), spoke exclusively to MxPA about the Mexican government’s new vision for promoting creative, digital and technological industries.
“In the history of our video game developers association… this is the first time we’ve seen such a determined and solid push from the Mexican government to consolidate a strong video game industry,” Kiyoshi said.
On March 18, in a post from the account of Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard, Kiyoshi shared with us the Mexican government’s interest in boosting the video game industry in Mexico, while also announcing the presence of a Mexican delegation at the Game Developer Conference (GDC), an event held in San Francisco, California.
One of the agreements finalized during this visit, he said, was to hold a business meeting in mid-October of this year during GAMACON (a video game convention organized by GDMX) to invite international investors and connect them with national studios and developers.
“What we need is to catapult Mexican companies dedicated to marketing video games.” Kiyoshi acknowledges that those abroad think Mexico has a lot of talent to hire, but they don’t necessarily see us as producers of intellectual property, and that needs to change.
Thus, the Mexican government seeks to shift from the manufacturing and provision of services by Mexican programmers and artists to the creation of national intellectual property. Kiyoshi also emphasized the importance of Mexican entrepreneurs owning their creations rather than being employees working on foreign products.
He also called for the participation of women in the video game development space and urged those interested to become part of this industry.
“Mexican women have a lot to offer, and we need to contribute and show the world the talent we have,” he emphasized.
And in an industry perceived by many as male dominated, various studies show that women represent nearly 50 percent of video game consumers around the world.
“GDMX’s reason for existing is to bring together Mexican developers so that there is a leadership that represents us all without being central to them or replacing any group.” With these words, Kiyoshi closed the interview for MxPA, where he also urged those interested to stay tuned for information on GAMACON, a convention organized by GDMX and where the working meetings with investors, which the Mexican government is working on, will be held.
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