A video game is an electronic game that can be interacted with using an input device, such as a controller, keyboard or joystick. Video games can be used for entertainment and relaxation but they can also be used for competitions, learning, education, training, health and much more.
From an economic perspective, games are booming: around 3.6 billion people play video games worldwide, and the global games market is worth close to $190 billion a year (Newzoo, 2025).
Games are also a tool for learning, health, training and social change, and a meeting point between technology, art and storytelling. That is why the eGames Lab combines research, product development and talent to help Portugal take a bigger share of this industry.
In Portugal, the games sector has long been fragmented and has struggled to scale, despite its great potential and highly skilled people. The eGames Lab was created to tackle the specific technological and operational challenges identified in the country, strengthening the competitiveness of its members and positioning them in a global context.
Covering the country from Évora to Lisbon, Madeira and the Azores, the Agenda helps diversify an economy heavily dependent on a single industry (tourism). It builds capacity to retain a young, well-trained generation with backgrounds in design, storytelling, engineering, marketing and the fine arts, attracts key stakeholders to Portugal and creates a lasting ecosystem for game design, development, playtesting and bringing interactive entertainment to market.
The Agenda delivered seven PPS (Products, Processes and Services):
1. Blockchain-based framework for games;
2. Advanced in-game Virtual and Augmented Reality;
3. Transformational Games for Health and the Green Agenda;
4. Artificial Intelligence for Interactive Storytelling;
5. Pre-Market Ecosystems and Network Optimisation;
6. Process Innovation in Game Design and Development;
7. A national network of four Gaming Hubs.
Seven PPS delivered and validated by independent experts; new games and platforms on the way to market; a national network of four Gaming Hubs with cowork, incubation, motion capture and playtesting; more than 200 highly qualified jobs mobilised; more than 140 scientific publications; and a stronger international presence for Portuguese studios.
The largest of the four Gaming Hubs, run by ACIF-CCIM; R&D capacity at ITI/LARSyS, with motion capture sessions at the Funchal Cultural and Innovation Centre (CCIF); MadCIX, the region’s Internet Exchange Point for low-latency gaming and cloud; the Madeira Games Summit and the Madeira Dev Community; and new titles such as Hanno, The Kause, Ezekiel and As Pequenas Lendas da Ilha.
A new Gaming Hub on the ISEL campus, with 900 m2, 200 seats and a 10-camera motion capture system; research at IST-ID and ITI on VR/AR, health games and AI storytelling; and a national ecosystem for Portuguese games companies, with promotion, acceleration and entrepreneurship programmes.
A new Gaming Hub on Terceira, with 600 m2, 120 seats, an AudioLab and a motion capture room, creating highly skilled jobs and placing the region in the value chain of a global industry.
A Gaming Hub at the Alentejo Science and Technology Park (PACT), the xBOOST accelerator for games entrepreneurs, and international missions to Macau, Shenzhen and India that open new markets to the consortium.
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