The Spanish Government Disbursed A Fund Of IDR 132 Billion For The Development Of Metaverse And Video Games

JAKARTA Metaverse has attracted the attention of companies and governments in various countries. Most recently, the Spanish government through the Ministry of Culture of Spain poured funds worth 8 million euros (equivalent to Rp132 billion) for the development of the metaverse and video games.

That way, the Spanish government acknowledged the importance of the value of the metaverse and gaming industry in the country. This is the second program to increase government funds for the metaverse. Previously, the government only disbursed 1 million euros for the sector.

Later, the funds will be donated to 25 selected metaverse and video game projects as part of the 'Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan' program. This program is aimed at strengthening the digitization and modernization of the economic aspect in Spain. Another country, South Korea, first disbursed funds for investment in the metaverse.

Metaverse as part of Culture

According to Spanish Culture Minister Miquel Iceta, the video game industry has played a major role in the transformation of Spain's productive model. About these grants, Iceta stated that they "will contribute to promoting our [small and medium enterprises] SME projects and our independent workers, thus consolidating the image of Spain as a reference audiovisual center, as well as in the videogame sector."

Launching Bitcoin.com News, as part of this commitment, video games, as a metaverse experience, will now be considered a cultural creation. This means that now the Spanish National Library must preserve it as a Spanish heritage, and they will be gathered to ensure conservation for future generations.

The immersive experience sector is essential in the country, where video games are Spain's most popular audiovisual entertainment choice, surpassing movies. This is why Iceta wants to put Spain in a place where Spain can compete with other countries in the industry and export its games to other countries. The Spanish video game market is also expected to grow 20 percent every year, so its size may pass the 2.3 billion euro (USD 2.44 billion) figure by 2024.