The IV eGames Lab National Meeting, held at Savoy Palace, Funchal, marked a milestone for the consortium led by WOWSystems. Four years after launch, the numbers speak for themselves and confirm that the unlikely bet made in 2021 has shifted the scale of Portugal's video game sector.
Opening Session - Miguel Campos (WOWSystems)
Miguel Campos, consortium leader and CEO of WOWSystems, opened the meeting by recalling the starting point - a sector with just over 80 companies, fewer than 300 employees and talent leaving the country - and revealed the results achieved:
- +81% companies in the sector (from 81 in 2021 to 147 in 2024, INE data).
- +142% turnover - from €23M to €58M, with provisional data pointing to over €100M in 2025.
- +134 new direct jobs created by the consortium across the country, with a total above 200.
- +130 scientific publications, including the Best Paper Award at ICIDS 2024.
Miguel Campos highlighted the consortium's competence - 22 entities, 14 companies, R&D centres and public and private partners - and underlined a historic achievement: the eGames Lab Mobilizing Agenda was ranked 2nd nationally in the PRR Agendas evaluation, a remarkable result for Madeira and its micro-companies, proof of their quality and execution capacity.
Madeira Regional Government
The President of the Madeira Regional Government praised the initiative and the strength of the regional tech sector, highlighting eGames Lab's strategic role in positioning Madeira as a digital innovation hub and in retaining talent in the Region.
Pedro Campos (WOWSystems) - AI storytelling
WOWSystems' Scientific and Creative Director, Pedro Campos, presented the advances of the AI-driven dynamic narrative system - from paper to engine: the PPS4 delivery. Demonstrations included the OW1Narrative plugin for Unreal Engine 5 with per-node OpenAI integration, cinematographic camera system and tag-based gameplay; combat AI with proprietary behavior trees and reactive perception system; capture workflow with Rokoko Smartsuit, Live Link Face and automatic retargeting to MetaHumans; and a dual-AI architecture validated through A/B testing with OpenAI, Lovable and Claude.
Prof. Pedro Dominguinhos - Chair of CNA-PRR
Professor Pedro Dominguinhos, Chair of the National PRR Monitoring Commission (CNA-PRR), strongly praised the consortium and the achievement of Miguel Campos, Pedro Campos and Maurício Marques, the lead authors of the bid. He highlighted the remarkable growth in indicators and how eGames Lab managed to create a new economic sector in Portugal, bringing together companies, academia and institutions around a shared ambition.
Maria José Figueira - Director of IAPMEI
Maria José Figueira, Director of IAPMEI - the PRR funding entity - was impressed by the quality of the results and the innovative solutions presented by the consortium, highly praising the eGames Lab project as an example of Mobilizing Agendas execution.
From swamp to Magic Kingdom
Miguel Campos' opening keynote was built around a metaphor: just as Walt Disney secretly bought a worthless Florida swamp in 1965, the eGames Lab consortium bet on a sector many considered unviable in Portugal. Today, with the country brand "Games from Portugal" present at GDC San Francisco, Gamescom Cologne and Tokyo Game Show, and four active Gaming Hubs (Madeira, Lisbon, Évora and Azores), the Kingdom is starting to open.
Follow the consortium's next initiatives at egameslab.pt.