Mr. Tomohiro USHIYAMA, Deputy Director-General for Cybersecurity and Information Technology at the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, buonasera e benvenuti at the Residence of the Italian Ambassador in Tokyo!
My wife Sabina and I are pleased to host this event dedicated to four Italian companies – Jyamma Games, Evil Licorice, Kid Onion and We Are Muesli – representing Italy in the “Tokyo Game Show 2023”.
As you know, the “Tokyo Game Show” is the most important appointment in the gaming sector, dedicated to the development of videogame technologies for which Japan is a global leader. It is a global event awaited by developers, publishers, hardware manufacturers, press, media and enthusiasts from all over the world.
Gaming is a very important sector in the world economy. In 2022 the global videogame industry made profits for over 160 billion dollars and according to a recent report by the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, this sector is expected to grow up to 300 billion dollars by 2026.
In this context, the Italian gaming industry is well positioned, albeit still small in size (2.2 billion euros), it has a great potential. It grew by 30% in 2022, totaling around 150 million euros profits, and today 2400 people are employed in the sector – 50% more than in 2021.
With a view of supporting this positive trend and attracting international investments, the Italian Government has adopted financial measures and is actively promoting our industry abroad. This initiative is part of this effort and we would like to do more next year since we expect that more and more stakeholders will be coming to Tokyo. Our goal is to participate in the “Tokyo Game Show 2024” with a national pavilion.
In the week that saw the opening of the exhibition of treasures from the Musei Capitolini and the amazing performances of the cast of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma – we have here with us Vittorio Grigolo, Sonya Yoncheva and Roman Burdenko – let me close my brief introduction by stressing that for Italy, a cultural superpower, the videogames industry is also important for its educational potential.
In this regard, the museums of Florence, Naples and Taranto and the Teatro Regio in Parma have already developed videogames to promote their cultural activities, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did with “ITALY. Land of Wonders” in order to promote our cultural heritage towards foreign audiences and in particular to young people.
Let me now conclude by wishing the Italian companies the best success in the “Tokyo Game Show 2023”. I am confident that the Japanese players will be able to appreciate more and more the Italian creativity and our excellent products, also in the gaming sector.
Grazie e buona serata!