Invest in Flanders: Gaming Sector

This promotional page from Flanders Investment & Trade presents the creative media, gaming, and animation sector in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium, as an attractive destination for businesses and talent. Its central thesis is that the video game industry, which it notes generates more revenue globally than the box office and music industries combined, offers strong growth potential in Flanders, supported by a skilled workforce, established studios, and public incentives. The page covers the region's ecosystem in broad terms and does not present independent survey data or a formal methodology.

The key figures cited include more than 70 game studios in Belgium, nearly all located in Flanders, and roughly 4.2 million active gamers across Belgium, with about half of Flemish residents reporting monthly gameplay. The page highlights Flanders' five universities and sixteen university colleges, with particular emphasis on Howest's Digital Arts & Entertainment program in Kortrijk, which it describes as the largest gaming education program in the Benelux and a top-ranked curriculum internationally. Notable companies include Larian Studios, a Ghent-founded developer of role-playing games, and Graphine, a graphics middleware firm later acquired by Unity Technologies.

On the support side, the page outlines the Flanders Game Hub incubator, the FLEGA industry association, a tax shelter scheme for investments in original video games, and Gamefund grants from the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds covering preproduction, production, and promotion. Because the material is promotional in nature, its claims, such as the cited tax exemption level and program rankings, reflect the publisher's own framing rather than independent verification.