Barcelona is to have the biggest e-Sports Centre in Southern Europe

Barcelona is embarking on a new project to continue promoting talent in the various technology sectors. In this case, video games. BIG C, a high-performance digital entertainment centre which first opened in 2019, is expanding its facilities in Barcelona to a space with an area of over 7,000 m².

The new centre will officially open in the 22@ technology district in June, providing an educational benchmark in video games in Europe. It will offer venues for competitions, education and learning as well as other sports facilities for professionals in the field to train and rest in. The centre is aimed not just at players but also at referees, physiotherapists and trainers.

Barcelona, an international gaming benchmark

Jean-Sébastien Ventura, BIG C’s founder and CEO, insists that ‘video games are one of the world’s most powerful industries and a driving force for economic transformation.’ Thanks to this expansion, ‘Barcelona will have an international centre of assistance for innovation and new formats in the iconic location of the 22@ district.’

E-sports are an indisputably growing sector, and Barcelona has no wish to miss its opportunity to promote it and position itself as a benchmark in European e-Sports. Hence the support it has enjoyed from Barcelona City Council through its Department for International Economic Promotion and Barcelona Activa.

According to a study from the Catalan government’s Agency for Business Competitiveness (ACCIÓ), Catalonia is the EU’s number-one region in attracting foreign investment in the video games sector. The last five years have attracted 20 new projects, representing an investment of nearly 120 million euros and 900 jobs.