Polish productions electrify players all over the world

The presentation of well-known games by Polish companies at Expo 2020 Dubai is an excellent opportunity to build the strength of the Polish video game market in the public awareness. In the Poland Pavilion in the "Poland. Spirit of ingenuity" zone, companies from the video game industry and their greatest achievements, e.g., CD Projekt Red, operating in the industry for over 25 years, were introduced to the audience in the form of a multimedia presentation. One of the most popular productions of the largest studio in Poland is the series "The Witcher". The series of computer and mobile games created by CD Projekt Red is based on the saga by Andrzej Sapkowski. It consists of three main productions: "The Witcher" (2007), "The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings" (2011) and "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" (2015). The action takes place after the events known from the fifth part of the book saga entitled "Lady of the Lake". CD Projekt Red, apart from the series of games about Geralt of Rivia, is also famous for the futuristic role-playing game "Cyberpunk 2077". It is set in the fictional metropolis of Night City, and the main character, "V", is a mercenary trying to get an implant that guarantees immortality.

At Expo 2020 Dubai, 11 bit studios was also presented in the Polish Pavilion. Established in 2009, the company belongs to the group of recognised producers, publishers and distributors of games. One of its most popular projects is "The War of Mine" from 2014. The scale of the commercial success of that game is evidenced by the fact that all the costs associated with its production were recouped already in the first weekend after its release. Moreover "The War of Mine" has received over 100 awards and its reviews have appeared in some of the most popular and prestigious magazines in the world - including "The Washington Post". 11 bit studios is also known worldwide for the games "Frostpunk" and "Moonlighter". The company is currently working on its next project, which will be created with the use of the Unreal Engine graphics engine - which is the result of signing a contract with Epic Games. Immersion, the VR games developer that specialises in projects and products designed using virtual and augmented reality technologies, also presents its achievements in the Polish Pavilion. The studio was established in 2014 and operates in Warsaw. It cooperates with the biggest companies in the world: Google, HBO and Coca-Cola.

The potential of Polish video game studios is evidenced by the fact that 96% of their sales is export. The value of the games market amounted to USD 596 million in 2019, and it is constantly growing. An opportunity for development will be a week-long event at Expo 2020 Dubai - Polish Games Show. The most interesting productions for various platforms will be presented during the festival of Polish computer games. One of the events will also be a debate on the ICT sector. Topics related to the development of new technologies, the potential of the R&D sector, cloud services, software and the games sector in Poland will be discussed. The history of Polish gamedev will also be presented - and an exhibition of Polish PC games will be part of it.

In Poland, the conditions for the development of the video game industry are becoming more and more favourable every year. The largest computer games and multimedia entertainment fair in Central and Eastern Europe - Poznań Game Arena - is organised in Poznań on regular basis. An important event is also the Digital Dragons conference in Kraków, held for employees of the industry. In turn, the Intel Extreme Masters tournament is organised for e-sport fans who come to Katowice to compete in the most popular games. The importance of the event is evidenced by the fact that it attracted 174,000 people to "Spodek" in Katowice in 2019. The event was watched by 232 million fans via the Internet.

Universities also notice the huge potential in the development of digital entertainment. This is evidenced by the increasing number of specialist courses at state and private universities. Studios are established that teach students to create and design games with the use of graphic programs, programming, creating sounds and management. Courses for future designers and producers of computer games are offered by, i.a., the University of Opole, the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice or Tischner European University In Kraków.

State agencies also see the potential of the video game industry. The Industrial Development Agency, the University of Silesia and the District of Cieszyn have jointly established ARP Games. It is the only Polish video game accelerator that supports young creators. The company was founded in 2016, and its main activity is concentrated around biannual competitions. They are participated by teams developing video games. ARP Games offers financial, substantive and technical support, as well assistance in terms of premises as part of its Accelerator programme. As a result, a 3D adventure game developed by Cubeish Games and Punk Notion studios called Weakless was released. Another example of a game developed in collaboration with ARP Games is Repressed, whose main theme revolves around the experience of travelling through one's own memories. It was created by Sigur Studio from Bielsko-Biała.