The largest regional gaming festival, Reboot InfoGamer powered by A1 opens its doors to thousands of gaming fans, esports competitors and industry experts this year. The festival brings four days of exciting program, the most anticipated of which are the finals of the 14th season of the A1 Adria League and the 4th season of the A1 Student eChallenge.
At the opening, they presented the program Damir Đurović, co-founder and director of Reboot and organizer of Reboot InfoGamer, Marina Parić, head of marketing communications at A1 Hrvatska and Andreja Šeperac, director of the Regional Coordinator of Sisak-Moslavina County.
"Reboot InfoGamer would not be this big without the support of partners like A1 Croatia. Synergy has enabled the growth and development of the festival, which attracts an increasing number of visitors and gamers from the entire region every year," he emphasized. Damir Đurović and announced the never bigger and never more content Reboot Infogamer powered by A1. "This year, we are housed in four pavilions on a record-breaking 10,000 square meters. This is our tenth anniversary year and it is the best way to thank our loyal gamers, visitors and partners," adds Đurović.
As every year, the key event is the final A1 Adria League. 14th season is marked by competition in the most popular games such as CS2, EAFC25, FC Mobile and Brawl Stars, along with mini-tournaments in League of Legends, PUBG and Tekken. More than 3,500 competitors applied for the chance to win part of the rich prize fund, while the best teams and players will fight for the title at the LAN finale. Likewise, A1 Student eChallenge every year it is more and more popular. This year, as many as 105 students from 15 faculties are participating, including new faculties such as the Faculty of Law from Zagreb and the Polytechnic in Bjelovar. The four best teams advanced to the finals where they will compete in three games, which proves the growth and popularity of the competition among students. All the finals will take place in the never bigger A1 zone which in this year's edition covers more than 1,500 square meters.
The rich prize fund for the winners of all competitions amounts to more than 42,000 euros, she emphasized Marina Parić, head of marketing communications at A1 Croatia. "This year is special for A1 Croatia because we are celebrating 25 years of innovation, success and social responsibility. Values that fit perfectly into the successful 10 years of Reboot InfoGamer, with which we are proud partners of the biggest gaming story in the region. Our platform #BoljiOnline, which we strive to create a safe and positive online environment, also fits perfectly into everything. So this year, we are launching the interactive game #BoljiOnline svijet, which we want to facilitate the education of the youngest generations through content adapted to them, fun and gamified. We are proud to present educational activities that will help young people develop awareness of online safety and responsible behavior," she added in her presentation.
U #BoljiOnline kutku, in collaboration A1, Holonet and CSI the visitors are waiting for the game #BoljiOnline svijet. It is intended primarily for elementary school students, but also for parents and teachers, and through five thematic virtual rooms, it educates about safe behavior on the Internet, covering key topics such as trolling, privacy, password security, and responsible publishing of content. You can find the game here.
This year, the A1 zone was joined by Incubator PISMO from Novska whose stand she presented Andreja Šeperac and emphasized the importance of education and support for the development of digital skills among the youngest. This year they are organizing gaming and digital skills workshops, including an educational Moopies playroom for pre-schoolers and workshops for primary school children where they will learn the basics of making video games.
After the official part of the presentation of the festival, the program continued panel "New incentive for investment in the video game industry". Researcher for a British consulting company Olsberg SPI, Joe Stirling Lee, presented a study showing the impact of return on investment for video games in Croatia. It's on the panel State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Media Krešimir Partl noted that this type of incentive is in the plan for the Ministry of Culture, but that first additional funds should be secured for smaller studios so that they do not remain uncompetitive in relation to large productions, for which he proposes a model similar to the film industry, which has recently financed incentives through a tax on digital platforms. If Croatia were to financially support the production of video games according to the model of the Filming in Croatia program, which already exists and enables the return of up to 30 percent of invested funds for film productions, Olsberg SPI's analysis estimated that the introduction of this incentive in 2025 would bring about 450 new jobs in the industry by 2029 and generated an additional 8.8 million euros in annual revenues. The panel was moderated by Aleksandar Gavrilović, Secretary General of the Cluster of Croatian Video Game Producers.
