GDCy FEST 2026 – Chief Scientist Speech

Address by the Chief Scientist of the Republic of Cyprus

Opening Address at GDCy FEST 2026

Limassol, Cyprus — 2S May 202c

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Distinguished guests,

Industry leaders, creators, developers, entrepreneurs, investors, students, partners, and members of the international gaming community,

Ladies and gentlemen, Good morning.

It is a great honour to officially open GDCy FEST 2026 here in Limassol, and to welcome you to Cyprus for what has become one of the most dynamic and important gatherings for gaming, game development, interactive entertainment, and digital creativity in our region.

I would like to begin by congratulating Tim and the entire GDCy team. You have not simply built an event.

You have built a community. You have built a platform.

You have created a meeting point for founders, studios, developers, artists, designers, investors, publishers, students, and technology leaders.

And you are helping place Cyprus firmly on the global map of interactive entertainment, digital creativity, and game development.

The fact that Cyprus today hosts one of the largest open-air game development conferences in Europe is not accidental.

It is a signal.

A signal that this ecosystem is growing.

A signal that global talent is taking notice.

A signal that international companies see Cyprus not only as a place to operate, but as a place to build, scale, collaborate, and create.

And a signal that Cyprus is no longer simply observing the digital economy from the sidelines.

Cyprus is increasingly becoming part of it — and in some areas, competing within it at the highest international level.

But before we speak about markets, statistics, policy, or strategy, let us begin with the people who make this industry possible.

Every game begins long before it reaches a screen. It begins with a prototype that may fail.

A mechanic that needs testing.

A gameplay loop that must be refined. A world that does not yet exist.

A character that has not yet found its voice.

A team that believes an idea is worth building before anyone else can see it. Game developers understand something every innovation economy must learn:

You build. You test. You fail.

You optimise.

You ship.

You listen to players.

And then you improve again.

That mindset is not only the mindset of gaming. It is the mindset of the future economy.

Because gaming is no longer viewed only as entertainment. Gaming is technology.

Gaming is artificial intelligence. Gaming is cloud infrastructure. Gaming is behavioural analytics. Gaming is cybersecurity.

Gaming is immersive experience.

Gaming is storytelling, mathematics, design, simulation, and human imagination combined.

Gaming is where code becomes emotion. Where technology becomes experience.

Where creativity becomes industry.

And where small teams can build worlds that reach millions of people across continents.

Globally, the gaming industry now exceeds $200 billion in annual market value, surpassing film and music combined. But its importance goes far beyond market size.

Gaming technologies now influence education, healthcare, defence simulation, architecture, engineering, digital twins, scientific visualisation, skills training, cultural experience, and the next generation of digital interaction.

In other words, gaming is not only shaping how people play. It is shaping how people learn.

How they train. How they design.

How they collaborate. How they solve problems.

And how they experience the digital world. That is why this community matters.

That is why events like GDCy FEST matter.

Because they bring together the people who are building the future before the rest of the world fully sees it.

And Cyprus has a remarkable opportunity to be part of that future.

In spite of our a population, Cyprus has established itself as one of the most influential mobile gaming hubs globally.

Recent industry analysis shows that seven of the world’s top 100 mobile game publishers by downloads in 2024 were headquartered in Cyprus — outperforming larger countries such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Only the United States and China ranked ahead of Cyprus in publisher representation relative to downloads.

For a country of our size, this is extraordinary.

It demonstrates that scale in the digital economy is not determined only by population. It is determined by talent.

By creativity. By execution.

By connectivity. By speed.

By the ability to build products that travel.

And by the ability to create an ecosystem where international companies, founders, engineers, artists, designers, data scientists, product leaders, and entrepreneurs can operate globally.

Today, Cyprus hosts a strong concentration of internationally recognised gaming and game development companies across mobile, PC, console, and online gaming.

Companies such as Nexters Global, known globally for Hero Wars, Wargaming, creator of World of Tanks, MY.GAMES, SayGames, Scorewarrior, Belka Games, Mundfish, VIZOR Interactive, Outfit7, Azur Games, and many others are part of this growing ecosystem.

Together, they reflect the emergence of Cyprus as a serious international base for gaming, technology, talent, digital exports, and global intellectual property.

The scale is significant.

Today, gaming in Cyprus represents an industry of approximately €4 billion, supported by more than 300 companies and a rich ecosystem of highly skilled technology professionals whose work is becoming a major backbone of the Cypriot economy.

And Cypriot mobile games significantly outperform global averages in downloads, with more than 11 million downloads per title, compared to a global average of approximately 1.4 million.

These numbers tell an important story.

But behind the numbers, there is something even more important. There are people.

There are teams.

There are founders taking risks.

There are developers solving difficult technical problems. There are artists building worlds.

There are designers shaping human experience. There are data scientists optimising systems.

There are product teams managing live operations. There are community managers listening to players.

There are engineers working with engines, pipelines, localisation, analytics, cloud infrastructure, monetisation models, real-time performance, and cross-platform delivery.

There are entrepreneurs creating companies with global reach from a small island in the Eastern Mediterranean.

And there are students and young professionals looking at this industry and realising that the future can be built from Cyprus.

This is why gaming is so important for Cyprus.

Because these companies are not simply producing games. They are creating high-value technology jobs.

They are building intellectual property. They are attracting international talent. They are contributing to exports.

They are developing advanced digital capabilities.

They are strengthening Cyprus’ position in the global digital economy.

And they are proving that Cyprus can compete internationally in industries where creativity, technology, speed, and execution matter more than physical size.

This aligns directly with the broader national vision we are collectively implementing as a country.

Together with the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, the Research and Innovation Foundation, Invest Cyprus, academia, research centres, startups, and the private sector, the Office of the Chief Scientist is working to position Cyprus as a globally connected technology and innovation hub — and as a strategic gateway to Europe for international technology companies and innovation-driven industries.

This vision is fully aligned with H.E. President Christodoulides’ Cyprus Vision 2035: a roadmap to transform Cyprus into one of the most attractive countries in the region for innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, research, investment, and talent.

Our responsibility as institutions is clear.

It is to build the conditions in which creators, developers, founders, studios, and technology companies can move faster.

Scale globally. Attract talent.

Protect intellectual property. Access international markets.

Collaborate with universities and research centres. Use Cyprus as a gateway into Europe.

And contribute to a stronger, more resilient, more innovative national economy. Our objective is clear.

We want Cyprus to become a regional hub for research, innovation, artificial intelligence, digital technologies, creative industries, and advanced technology companies.

A place where global companies can establish operations, scale internationally, access European markets, collaborate with research ecosystems, and build the technologies of the future.

And gaming is becoming one of the clearest examples of that transformation.

Because game development sits at the intersection of everything that defines the future economy. It combines engineering with imagination.

Artificial intelligence with storytelling. Mathematics with design.

Cloud computing with real-time experience. Data with creativity.

Simulation with human behaviour. And innovation with emotion.

This is why the gaming community is so valuable. You are not only building products.

You are building capabilities that spill over into the wider economy — into AI, simulation, digital twins, education, health, public services, defence, culture, tourism, training, and the creative industries.

You are helping Cyprus move from a services economy toward a knowledge-driven economy powered by technology, creativity, intellectual property, and international connectivity.

And this is where our national ambition must be clear.

Cyprus should not only be known as a place where gaming companies are based.

Cyprus should become known as a country where gaming companies build, scale, publish, innovate, and export global digital intellectual property.

The next generation of Cyprus exports will not only be services or physical products. They will be worlds.

Experiences. Platforms.

Technologies. Creative assets.

And intellectual property built by people and companies operating from this ecosystem. Cyprus may be small in geography.

But in gaming, creativity, and digital ambition, we are playing on a global map.

One of the most encouraging developments is also the growing focus on education, research, and talent development.

Universities across Cyprus are increasingly offering specialised programmes in game development, computing, artificial intelligence, animation, digital design, immersive technologies, and digital media.

This is critical.

Because the future competitiveness of nations will depend on their ability to cultivate digital talent, attract innovators, support creators, and build ecosystems that encourage experimentation, collaboration, and ambition.

We therefore strongly support the continued growth of communities such as GDCy and the broader gaming ecosystem in Cyprus.

Innovation ecosystems succeed when they are connected.

When startups, investors, researchers, creators, policymakers, universities, and industry leaders collaborate.

When the private sector and the public sector move in the same direction. When international companies feel welcome.

When founders feel supported. When talent feels valued.

When young people see pathways into high-value careers. And when developers can say:

“I do not need to leave Cyprus to dream globally. I can build from here.”

That sentence matters.

Because the strongest innovation ecosystems are not only built through capital, infrastructure, or policy.

They are built through belief.

The belief that ideas born here can scale globally.

The belief that talent based here can compete internationally.

The belief that a small country can become a serious player in a global digital industry.

And the belief that creativity, when combined with technology and execution, can become national advantage.

To the developers in this room:

To the founders:

To the artists and designers:

Keep building. Keep taking risks.

Keep creating worlds people want to enter.

To the engineers:

Keep solving the problems that make those worlds possible.

To the students:

Do not underestimate what can be built from Cyprus. To our international partners:

Cyprus is ready to work with you, scale with you, innovate with you, and build with you. And to the gaming community as a whole:

You are not only part of an industry.

You are part of a movement that is redefining technology, creativity, and economic growth. Ladies and gentlemen,

Gaming is one of the most powerful expressions of the future. It is where imagination becomes infrastructure.

Where software becomes culture. Where creativity becomes export. Where data becomes experience.

Where small teams can reach global audiences.

And where countries like Cyprus can prove that size is not destiny. That is the opportunity before us.

To make Cyprus not only a place where gaming companies operate, but a place where gaming innovation grows.

A place where talent is developed.

A place where intellectual property is created. A place where global partnerships are built.

A place where the next generation of developers, creators, and digital entrepreneurs can build with confidence.

And a place where the gaming industry becomes one of the engines of Cyprus’ future economy.

I would once again like to congratulate the organisers, sponsors, partners, and the entire international gaming community present here today.

Thank you for contributing to this momentum. Thank you for believing in Cyprus.

Thank you for building from Cyprus.

And thank you for helping us shape a future where technology, creativity, innovation, and human imagination come together.

I wish GDCy FEST 2026 every success.

And I look forward to seeing Cyprus continue strengthening its role as a globally connected innovation and technology hub for the region — and as a true gateway to Europe for the industries of the future.

Thank you very much.