“The connection between Italy and its community and IT is the history of Italians with the world of gaming, dating back to the early stages of the video game industry in the 80s. Now gaming in Italy is almost normal, but how Has the gaming world really transformed from being something small to being as we know it today?”
Italy at the dawn of gaming
The history in the world of video games began in the 80s with the boom of arcades throughout Italy, mainly young people were the most fascinated by this new type of entertainment. The main video games in the arcades were: Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong.
The arcades were a place to socialize, where young people and friends gathered to play and compete, competitiveness was a fundamental part of the arcade game and was part of playing right from the start, in fact the players tried to obtain higher and higher scores to earn the respect in the small group of friends.
The 80s left a cultural impact on the perception of video games in Italy, helping to shape popular culture and define the figure of the gamer in all its aspects.
Italy in the 90s
In the 1990s, Italy witnessed significant growth in the video game industry with the birth of the Game Boy produced by Nintendo. The Game Boy had a significant cultural impact in Italy, contributing significantly to the country’s gaming culture.
The Game Boy hosted titles such as Tetris, Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, winning the hearts of Italian players while also being relatively accessible in terms of price to a large audience.
The success of the Game Boy has helped create a lively gaming community in Italy, the sharing of gaming experiences, tricks and advice between players has strengthened the bond between video game enthusiasts in the country.
Italy in the 2000s
In the 2000s, the Italian video game industry went through a phase of great change, with the advent of new, more advanced game consoles (Playstation 2, the subsequent Playstation 3, Xbox, and the Xbox360) and the expansion of the market . The 2000s saw the growth of new game genres, for example role-playing games (RPGs), first-person shooters (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) games.
Furthermore, in the 2000s there was the growth of e-Sports with tournaments and competitions (in games such as Counter-Strike (CS 1.6), Warcraft III, League of Legends and Super Smash Bros. Melee), attracting the attention of a wider audience. ample. Finally, video games have also started to be purchasable in an online version, for example with the Steam platform.
Italy from 2010-today
After the 2010s until today, (Growth of innovations), Italy has continued to evolve by incorporating new technologies, business models and gaming trends. In 2013, next-generation consoles such as the Playstation 4 and Xbox One were recognized, followed with the Playstation 5 and Xbox
Series gaming experience at higher levels never seen before.
The best video games released from 2020 to 2023 were: The last of us II (2020), Red Dead Redemption 2 (2020), Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (2020).
The evolution of gaming in Italy
The italian community
The Italian community, although it may seem small, is very active and dynamic, this can be seen both from the events that the Milan Games Week hosts every year with many people, and from the numbers that the biggest Italian streamers and creators make on the various platforms social media and e-Sports in video games.
Milan Games Week has become an annual event much awaited by thousands of video game enthusiasts. The event offers the opportunity for Italian players to meet, participate in tournaments, try new games and connect with the gaming world.
In 2020, according to data provided by the AIES (Italian Association of Video Game Publishers), approximately 64% of Italians play video games. The games most played by Italians are Fortnite, Gta V, Fifa and Call of Duty.
