The largest regional gaming festival, Reboot InfoGamer powered by A1, once again opens its doors to thousands of gaming enthusiasts, esports competitors, and industry experts. The festival brings four days of exciting programming, with the highlight being the finals of the 14th season of A1 Adria League and the 4th season of A1 Student eChallenge.
At the opening, the program was presented by Damir Đurović, co-founder and director of Reboot and organizer of Reboot InfoGamer, Marina Parić, head of marketing communications at A1 Croatia, 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. The synergy has enabled the growth and development of the festival, which attracts an ever-increasing number of visitors and gamers from across the region every year,” emphasized Damir Đurović and announced the largest and most content-rich Reboot InfoGamer powered by A1 yet. “This year we are located in four pavilions on a record large space of 10,000 square meters. This is our tenth, jubilee year, and it is the best way to thank our loyal gamers, visitors, and partners,” added Đurović.
As every year, the key event is the finals of the A1 Adria League. The 14th season is marked by competitions 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 have registered for the chance to win a share of the rich prize pool, while the best teams and players will compete for the title at the LAN finals. Similarly, the A1 Student eChallenge is becoming increasingly popular year after year. 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 top four teams have qualified for the finals where they will compete in three games, demonstrating the growth and popularity of the competition among students. All finals will take place in the never larger A1 zone, which this year spans over 1,500 square meters.
The rich prize pool for the winners of all competitions amounts to over 42,000 euros, emphasized Marina Parić, head of marketing communications at A1 Croatia. “This year is special for A1 Croatia as we celebrate 25 years of innovation, success, and social responsibility. Values that perfectly align with the successful 10 years of Reboot InfoGamer, of which we are proud partners in the largest gaming story in the region. Our #BoljiOnline platform also fits perfectly into this, as we strive to create a safe and positive online environment. This year, we are launching the interactive game #BoljiOnline world, which aims to facilitate the education of the youngest generations through content tailored to them, fun, and gamified. We proudly present educational activities that will help young people develop awareness of online safety and responsible behavior,” she added in her presentation.
This year, A1 zone was joined by Inkubator PISMO from Novska, whose stand was presented by Andreja Šeperac, highlighting the importance of education and support for the development of digital skills among the youngest. They are organizing gaming and digital skills workshops this year, including the educational playroom Moopies for preschool children and workshops for elementary school students where they will learn the basics of video game creation.
After the official part of the festival presentation, the program continued with the panel "New Incentive for Investment in the Video Game Industry". Researcher from the British consulting firm Olsberg SPI, Joe Stirling Lee, presented a study showing the impact of return on investment for video games in Croatia. During the panel, State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Media Krešimir Partl noted that this type of incentive is planned for the Ministry of Culture, but that additional funds need to be secured for smaller studios so they do not remain uncompetitive compared to large productions, for which he proposes a model similar to the film industry that has recently financed incentives through taxes on digital platforms. If Croatia financially supported video game production under the model of the Filming in Croatia program, which already exists and allows for a return of up to 30 percent of invested funds for film productions, the Olsberg SPI analysis estimated that the introduction of this incentive in 2025 would bring about 450 new jobs in the industry by 2029 and generate an additional 8.8 million euros in annual revenue. The panel was moderated by Aleksandar Gavrilović, Secretary General of the Cluster of Croatian Video Game Producers.
