Sculpture, painting, poetry, architecture, and food are just a few of the art forms with a long history in Italy. Even though many people think video games are modern works of art, Italians think they’re just a bunch of things that people like to do. ThalitaMalago is the Italian video game industry’s trade association (AESVI). She has spent most of her career trying to convince the Italian government that games are worth funding, even though billions of dollars are spent on mobile, esports, and video game sales every year.
AESVI’s early years were dominated mainly by international publishers with local offices in Italy, Malago said when he talked about the organization’s beginnings. The doors were opened to Italian developers as time went on. We now work with more than 60 Italian game developers who have their headquarters in Italy, and we can help you find them.
Malago worked as a lawyer for Microsoft before the AESVI asked her to start the group in 2006. When an association that had just been given money from its members called Malago, they wanted someone to help them run their business and start a trade organization in Italy.
“Young children were around at the time. In this case, let’s say it was 13 years ago. I was 30 at the time, so I thought I was young. This interview was done by my board members and me. Because I said, “Look, I’m young, I’m a lady,” it made me laugh. This job isn’t likely to come my way because I don’t fit their picture of what a director general should look like.”
From the PlayStation, they came to invent new things
Because of the country’s strong sense of tradition, video games have had a hard time getting a foothold in this country both economically and culturally because of this. People have made a name for themselves with games like Milestone and Ride 3, but the whole industry is in the wrong way. Many of Malago and the AESVI’s first efforts aimed to protect the industry in Italy from new laws.
Many draft laws in Italy wanted to change the way PEGI was rated to something else, so Malago and his team spent a lot of time working on small things to protect people. “It’s possible that legislation on violent video games could also be on the table. During the start of our project, we did a lot of defense work. Our goal is to help the association grow and the industry improve its image with public institutions. We’ve started to build some pillars.”
Even Milan Games Week, which Malago calls “like Paris Games Week,” is on the list. This is because it’s all about entertainment and is “consumer-friendly.” A record 160,000 people came to Milan Games Week in its first year, including 800 Italian journalists, bloggers, and YouTube stars. This made it the most popular gaming event in the world.
AESVI also runs the annual Games Industry Day in Rome, a “conference” where public officials and the video game industry talk about how to improve the sector. The AESVI and the Italian game developers could get tax breaks like those in the UK and France because of this significant industry event.
Conclusion
So, Malago said, “We are working with the government, but now we need an implementation decree that will be sent to the European Commission for their approval.” “France and the United Kingdom both used this method. It took us a year and a half to get our government to agree to these tax breaks for Italian businesses that do business outside Italy.”
