The Film, TV series & Games Section of Italy for Movies has added twenty new videogame summaries, bringing the total to approx. 150, thanks to a partnership with IVIPRO – Italian Videogame Program.
Considered a bona-fide form of artistic expression, gaming offers huge potential in raising awareness of artistic, cultural and landscape heritage. Some videogames develop from input from the Regions, such as The Umbrian Chronicles which is part of the “Connessioni museali: tra valli e monti, borghi e città” Project financed by the Regione Umbria to relaunch the cultural heritage of Spoleto and the Valnerina area. Others focus on the theme of memory, such as A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 which traces the history of a small village in Alto Adige submerged by the waters of the Resia dam, only the old bell tower emerging from the lake surface; or promote top-quality products such as Hundred Days, a simulator which uses management gaming to spotlight the wine producers of Piedmont.
In addition to being set in a specific area, many videogames follow in the footsteps of genre classics: e.g., The Hand of Glory, an investigation set in the ancient village of San Leo in Romagna; Promesa, offering views of Milan, Brianza and Verona, a personal, autobiographical story and winner of Best Italian Game 2021 at the IVGA; and The Alien Cube a horror videogame inspired by Alpine settings.
Officially designated audio-visual works in Law 220/2016 (Regulation of cinema and audio-visual products), videogames are eligible for benefits such as tax credits, a tax bracket of 25% and an annual business credit limit of €1million.
At a community level, Creative Europe’s MEDIA strand has a videogame policy in place to support production companies of proven experience in developing concepts or projects for videogames.
The growing interest in this sector has also inspired the creation of videogame start-up incubators such as Bologna Game Farm and Cinecittà Game Hub. On the other hand, the numbers speak for themselves: IIDEA – Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association valued the industry in Italy as worth almost €2.2 billion in 2020, with 16.7 million players.
(Monica Sardelli)