Cyprus has more video game companies, higher games revenue and more mobile app installs per head of population than any other country in the world, according to the first report on the island’s games industry, published by the Cyprus Game Makers Association (CYGMA).
Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou cited the findings at the Cyprus Games Summit 2026 in Limassol on Thursday, as he set out plans to help more games be made and funded on the island. “Our ambition is not simply to host video game companies,” he said.
The report records more than 415 companies and over 4,300 professionals in the sector, with estimated games revenue of about 3.2 billion euros in 2025. Damianou said the figures showed the industry was already a significant part of an economy built on technology and innovation, and that Cyprus had proved it could attract companies operating internationally.
The next goal, he said, was to develop more games in Cyprus, establish more local studios, increase investment in intellectual property and give more local people the chance to build international careers in the sector.
He said the Research and Innovation Foundation had sought the market’s views on a proposed programme called G3 (Games Go Global), which is being launched as a pilot. It aims to help Cyprus-based studios reach international publishers, platforms and players through marketing, content adaptation, preparation for release and business development. The foundation already offers tools for innovative companies, including blended finance programmes.
The next round of the government-backed Plug and Play Cyprus programme will focus on games, giving studios access to international mentors, corporate partners and investors, Damianou said. The aim of such partnerships, he added, was not to create another layer of structures but to strengthen links between companies in Cyprus and the markets or capital they need to grow.
He urged every studio on the island to offer an internship, mentor a student, collaborate on a university course or give a young creator a first professional opportunity. He welcomed CYGMA’s work with the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus University of Technology, and said that while university courses must evolve, students also needed practical experience, internships, mentoring, project work and first jobs.
Citing a recent KPMG estimate, he said Cyprus’s wider technology sector directly employed about 48,200 people in 2025, roughly 33 per cent of them foreign nationals, and that tech employment had grown by almost 10 per cent a year over the previous decade. Cyprus must remain open to international expertise while building a much stronger local talent pool, he said, through investment in STEM and digital skills, upskilling and retraining, and closer links between education and industry.
Damianou said Cyprus offered studios significant advantages: EU membership, a strategic location between three regions, a strong professional services base, an international business community and a policy framework that supports innovation. He listed measures including a special tax regime for qualifying intellectual property (the ‘IP Box’), an enhanced deduction for eligible research and development costs, employment income incentives for qualifying professionals, and tax incentives for investment in certified innovative companies.
Referring to the European Commission’s proposal for a Digital Fairness Act, published on Wednesday, he said Cyprus would take part constructively in the process. It would seek real protection for users, especially children, along with rules that are clear, fair and workable for studios developing games in Europe.
He said Cyprus’s national artificial intelligence strategy focuses on putting the technology to practical use and establishing the island as a trusted regional hub for its development and use. Games studios could contribute directly, he said, because of their creativity, international outlook and experience in testing new technologies in demanding commercial settings.
The future of games development in Cyprus, he said, would depend on how effectively creative teams, investors, universities, advisers and public bodies work together.
(information from the Cyprus News Agency)
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