How Hungary is emerging as a hub for game development
Game development is driven by a combination of market demand, innovation, and the ability to license expansive franchises. One of the interesting things to note is that as the industry continues to grow and expand, new geographic areas are becoming hubs of development. Hungary is fast becoming such a hub and a closer look at the reasons for this shift is highly insightful.
Hungary’s Gaming Moment
Hungary is a country in a state of flux with an economy that was once fairly flat due to the fall of traditional industry now coming back to life through tech innovation. This rapidly changing landscape means that the moment has arrived for the country to expand at pace.
From Pixels to Powerhouses
The Hungarian game development industry started as far back as the early 1980s and was chiefly fueled by competitions between developers to produce the lowest-cost games. As a result, many of the first developers were actually small social circles of university students who wanted to learn programming and win local coding competitions. The country would soon become known as a highly cost-effective location to develop a game and one that would reward the most skilled coders and developers.
Internationally renowned titles soon followed with the likes of Eureka! and Traffic making themselves known to gamers around the world. This initial commercial success saw the rise of fully-fledged companies such as Digital Reality Software and Gaijin Entertainment. Of particular note was Scarabæus which was one of the first games to fully embrace 3D graphics.
Why Now?
The combination of global gaming growth and Hungary’s rising visibility in the market means that the moment is right for the nation to take the next step. For example, live-streaming gaming revenue in Hungary is predicted to surpass $43 million in 2025 alone. This shows that there is a fertile breeding ground of economic prosperity, technical talent, and local interest.
Mapping the Industry
You can break the industry down into established players and indie developers/startups. Let’s start with the former to get a clear sense of how the industry is set to take shape in the second half of the decade.
Major Players
NeocoreGames focuses on creating role-playing games from their headquarters in Budapest. Amongst their most notable successes are the development of the Coretech game engine and the global sensation that is the King Arthur series of games. Their passion for perfecting the fine details and immersing players in a world of escapism supported by hyper-realistic graphics are major drivers of their continued success.
Then we also have Zen Studios, again based in Budapest, but with offices in the U.S., who specialize in simple interactive games such as pinball. Their focus is on repeat playability and maximizing the average playing time across their user base. Something which is essential if a game is going to go viral and attract attention across a wide range of demographics.
There is also Primal Game Studio who focus on themed games encompassing a wide array of genres. They often merge historical time periods with fantasy elements to provide elements of gore, surprise, and escapism all at the same time. In fact, you can say much the same for Gajin Entertainment and its popular range of titles: War Thunder, Crossout, and Star Conflict all come to mind.
Rising Indie Talent
There are also several standout indie studios and solo devs it is only right we recognize at this point. XREAL Games focuses on immersive VR gaming with titles like Zero Caliber VR and A-Tech Cybernetic VR. Hitori De Productions (a solo dev) has created Supernormal, a horror game with an intense mode of gameplay.
Beyond Budapest: Where Is the Industry Growing?
It won’t have escaped your attention that the developers we have highlighted lean heavily towards Budapest. We need to take a look at what this means and why it has happened.
The Capital’s Role
Budapest remains the industry’s epicenter because it is a thriving business, financial, and economic center, not just in the country, but in Central Europe as a whole. With one-fifth of the country’s population living in the city and highly accessible transport routes, it has become a natural melting pot for tech specialists and creatives looking to share ideas. That said, the future is not solely all about the nation’s biggest city.
The Regional Scene
DogByte Games has been based in Debrecen since it was founded in 2012 by developers David Svantner and Tamas Farkas. There is also the city of Szeged which is starting to attract gamers and developers who want to enjoy a collaborative setting but with a lower cost of living than Budapest is able to offer.
Szeged, in particular, has made significant investments in building and promoting entertainment centers with the aim of creating a base for tech innovation. The plan is to create regional hubs where people can meet informally to discuss ideas, share insights, and network with a view to cross-pollinating their existing projects.
Building the Backbone: Education & Support
All of this requires consistent, high-level investment from both the government and the private sector, especially if you want to create enough skilled developers within Hungary.
Nurturing Talent
Game development programs are offered in the form of professional training courses and university programs, with popular choices including:
- The Knowledge Academy’s C# Programming course
- NobleProg Magyarország’s live training courses
- University programs at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design
- Courses on the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN)
The idea is that technical coders who want to transition into game development full-time won’t have to go abroad to get the training and qualifications they need.
iGaming and the Hungarian Angle
Developers such as Zen Studios are known for their work on pinball games and have the potential to cross over into hybrid arcade-gambling games with the same engines. Notable titles to date from Zen include Pinball FX VR, Zen Pinball World, and Pinball FX.
Where iGaming Meets Gaming
Titles such as Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, and Call of Duty are being adapted so they can be used as themes for slots and other casino formats. The result is a blurring of the line between gaming and gambling. Add to this the country’s history of high-quality tech outsourcing and backend work and you start to see what the future may hold.
Hungary also operates a robust, transparent licensing process that has granted more than 40 licenses to various gaming sectors. This is one of the reasons why opening new online casinos is becoming an increasingly common investment for companies who want to enjoy business-friendly terms.
What’s Holding Hungary Back?
All of the above paints a glowing picture, but, as with any complex venture, there are always stumbling blocks and bottlenecks.
Funding & Scaling
Hungary is currently subject to a level of export risk exposure that has reduced the nation’s fiscal flexibility. This combines with frozen EU Recovery Funds at the time of writing.
The Brain Drain
There has been a significant loss of talent to Western Europe or North America with 33% of all those who leave being university-educated. Their search for higher pay and better living conditions creates a feedback loop where those who remain then become less likely to stay.
The Future of Play in Hungary
iGaming Gross Gaming Revenue in Hungary exceeded €450 million in 2024 and continues to follow a steady upward trajectory. This is chiefly led by mobile gaming titles and the growing interest in other compatible forms of entertainment such as MPG titles and live streams. With continued investment in training and educating local developers, Hungary is set to become a thriving hub for game developers across all genres.