The video game industry in the Czech Republic has produced numerous globally successful video games such as Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and the subsequent Arma series, the Mafia series, the Truck Simulator series, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series, the Samorost series, Factorio,Space Engineers and others. There were 300–400 video game developers and around 30 video game companies focusing on video game development in 2014. In 2017, the country had 1,100 developers and 47 companies.[1] Video games are also considered by some experts to be the country's biggest cultural export.[2] The video game industry did not enjoy a good reputation and was unsupported by the state until 2013, when the Ministry of Industry and Trade started to seek ways to kickstart the economy. By 2014, programs were planned to support the video game industry.[3][4][5][6][7]
In 2014, the Czech video game site Bonusweb ran a survey searching for the best video game developed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The winner was Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, having received 3866 votes out of 13,143. Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis placed second and Vietcong third.[8] In 2019, Games.cz[cs] made a list of the 15 best video games developed in the Czech Republic. It was also topped by Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven.[9]
The first games were developed in Czechoslovakia during the late 1970s as part of experimentation with Czechoslovak computers SM 52/11 (minicomputer version of PDP-11). These titles lacked graphics and were not meant for wider distribution.[10] Card games were particularly popular. Card games were played through printer due to lack of displays. There were also games based on chances such as electronical version of Rock–paper–scissors. Some games were competitive such as Dělostřelba (Cannonade) in which player had to count the trajectory of his cannon shot to hit his rival. Some games were developed on universities. Some universities taught programming at the time. Games at universities included Chess and Plivátko. The first real-time game was Přistání na měsíci (Landing on the Moon). One of the first games for character displays was Zombíci (Zombies). Players had to run for zombies and stay alive as long as possible.[11]
In the 1980s, the first graphic video games development in the country were mostly part of the Svazarm clubs.[12] The most popular video game platform of the time were ZX Spectrum, Czechoslovak computer PMD 85 and Atari 8-bit computers (mainly Atari 800XE).[12][13] Hobbyists could come explore computing and teach themselves programming. Games developed by members of these clubs include Hlípa and Flappy. Text adventures were very popular, accounting for more than half of the total output of Czechoslovak programmers. Czechs produced games for these platforms even in 1990s when were outdated. After 1989, the market changed, improving opportunities for programmers and gamers alike.
In the 90's, the most known Czech video games are of the adventure type. During this period, the company Vochozka Trading was established, which first distributed games for Amiga computers, such as Světák Bob. The game was not successful; however, in 1994 Vochozka Trading released the first Czech commercial games for PC, two adventure titles – Tajemství Oslího ostrova (Donkey Island) and 7 dní a 7 nocí (Seven Days and Seven Nights). Both were developed by Pterodon and widely regarded as successes. This was followed by adventures like Dračí Historie (Dragon History, the first Czech dubbed game on CD, 1995), Gooka (the first Czech game on Windows, 1997), Horké léto (Hot Summer, 1997) and DreamLand: Final Solution (1999). Games released in the 1990s also include real-time strategy game Paranoia (1995) and RPGBrány Skeldalu (Gates of Skeldal, 1998). Among the most widespread Czech logical DOS games were also Vlak[cs] (Train, 1993), Achtung, die Kurve! (1995) and Boovie (1998). The game Polda was released in 1998, this was the beginning of the most popular Czech adventure series.
The first internationally successful Czech game was Hidden & Dangerous by Illusion Softworks, a third person action game released in 1999.[14][15][16][17] More notable games by Illusion Softworks include Flying Heroes (2000), Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven (2002) and Vietcong (2003). In 2008 American publisher Take-Two Interactive acquired Illusion Softworks and renamed it to 2K Czech. The dark adventure Black Mirror from 2003 was a great success abroad, but two more sequels have already been made in Germany.
Bohemia Interactive became the most successful Czech developer with its worldwide bestseller[18]Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and the series of Arma games, first released in 2006. The success of Bohemia Interactive is regarded as having overshadowed other independent development studios.[16][19][20]
The video game market in the Czech Republic is currently growing, with a spend of 2.202billion Czech koruna (CZK) across both the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2011.[21] The corresponding total for 2012 was 2.436 billion CZK, a growth of 10.6%.[22] Purchased video games made up one third of this amount.
The most popular genres among Czech players are action and sports games. The growth of the market is expected with next-generation consoles such as the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.[22][23]
Video game associations
Czech Games is a community of video game developers based in the Czech Republic. It was established in 2001 and since then has supported video game development beginners. It has its own forum where developers can share their experience and showcase their work. The association also organizes the Game Developers Session conference and the GAMEDAY Festival.[24]
Video Game Industry Association of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic exists to promote video games in the two named countries. Video game developers, publishers, importers and distributors all belong to the organization. The association also organizes the BOOOM Contest.[25]
MU Game Studies is an association composed of Masaryk University students and graduates. It aims to improve and support video game education at Czech universities.[26][27]
World of Tanks released the Plzeň map in December 2015. The update also featured Czechoslovak tanks.[61]
Video game events in the Czech Republic
Game Developers Session is a game development conference that has been held annually since 2003. It features presentations given by video game culture figures such as developers, and enables players to meet them and discuss their projects. They can also sometimes try video games that are in development.
Game Access is a game development conference that has been first held in Brno in 2010. Since 2016, Game Access is held annually. It includes speeches of developers from all around the world, the Indie Expo where all the participants compete for Game Access Awards, the Business Expo and networking events. Since 2017, the organizers have included workshops.[62][63][64]
GameFFest is a game festival held in Prague. Players can try video games for various platforms and visit the Video Game History Museum. The festival is a part of PragoFFest.[65]
The GAMEDAY Festival has been held every May in Třeboň since 2010, as part of Anifilm Třeboň.[66]
The Czech Game of the Year Awards are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in video game development. The Awards were part of Gameday Festival until they became independent in 2017.[67]
The Booom Contest was held annually from 2011 to 2013. Prizes were awarded in various categories, including Game of the Year, Best Czech Video Game and Computer Game of the Year.[68] It was replaced by the Player's Awards for next years.[69]
The Central and Eastern European Game Studies conference is held in Brno as an event designed to allow the discussion of video gaming by academics, journalists, developers and members of the public. It is organized by the Game Studies civic association.[70]
Game Jam Prague is annually held in January as part of almost 200 Game Jams over the World.
Game Brew Plzeň is a meeting of video game developers, graphic designers and business enthusiasts. It has been held in Plzeň since 2015.[71]
Gamer Pie is a video game festival held in Brno.[72]
Miloš Endrle – CTO and founder of Geewa, a company awarded the Red Herring 100 Europe award.
Lukáš Macura – founder and CEO of Cinemax. He is also responsible for the Database of Czech and Slovak Video games.
František Fuka – programmer and musician who made video games for the ZX Spectrum during the 1980s and 1990s. Currently working as a film translator, preparing English language movies for Czech release.
Lukáš Ladra – founder and first editor-in-chief of Excalibur, the original Czech video gaming magazine.
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