650 industry professionals, including 50 publishers, investors and representatives of international agencies from 13 countries, as well as over 160 Italian video game development teams and more than 129 freelancers
First Playable 2025 was a great success. This business event for the video game sector was organised by IIDEA, the Italian trade body, and Toscana Film Commission – Fondazione Sistema Toscana. It was held in collaboration with Italian Trade Agency and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The event was also granted the patronage of the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy and the Ministry of Culture.
The initiative featured conferences, one-to-one business meetings, roundtables, workshops, awards and networking opportunities, and has now become an international showcase of excellence for the Italian video game industry. It took place from 11 to 13 June in Florence at the Cinema La Compagnia – La Casa del Cinema di Regione Toscana and the Palazzo degli Affari.
The seventh edition of the event, which took place in 2025, saw record numbers of participants: around 650 industry professionals, including 50 publishers, investors and representatives of international agencies from 13 countries (Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA), as well as over 160 Italian video game development teams and more than 129 freelancers. Through the Meet To Match platform, these participants organised over 1,150 business meetings. Numerous moments of in-depth analysis also took place during the kick-off conference, which featured over 20 national and international speakers, and in the 13 workshops on business or technical topics. The new roundtable content was also highly appreciated: nine 1:many meetings between video game developers and major international industry figures on key themes for the future of the sector.
There was great emotion and participation, both live and on the Multiplayer.it Twitch channel, for the Italian Video Game Awards ceremony, which was followed by over 12,000 spectators. During the evening, seven statuettes were awarded to the most significant titles, professionals, and companies in the sector that have distinguished themselves over the past year. New talent was also recognised, with the first three teams to be classified in the national Italian Game 2025 contest being awarded. This is the second edition of the initiative dedicated to students under 25, promoted by the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy (MIMIT), with the support of Invitalia (the National Agency for Investment Attraction and Business Development), IIDEA (the Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association) and Cyber 4.0 (the national centre of expertise for cybersecurity).
All 14 finalist teams of the contest had the opportunity to meet professionals from the video game industry at First Playable and to showcase their projects in a dedicated exhibition area at the Palazzo degli Affari. The Palazzo also hosted an area dedicated to Bologna Game Farm, which hosted the teams that participated in the acceleration program, and an area dedicated to the European project GAME-ER: Gaming Clusters Across Multiple European Regions, which gave space to startups that participated in previous editions of the Quickload program.
The partnership signed by IIDEA with the BFI (British Film Institute), the UK’s leading cinema and audiovisual promotion institution, and Games London, organiser of the London Games Festival, was highly valued and profitable. Thanks to this partnership, a twinning relationship was established between Italy and Great Britain, and a British delegation of institutional representatives and seven independent video game development studios were brought to First Playable 2025.
Thalita Malagò, General Manager of IIDEA, stated: ‘The seventh edition of First Playable was a real leap in quality, establishing the event as a key player in the Italian video game industry. The extraordinary growth in numbers is accompanied by high-quality content and solid partnerships, confirming the prestige achieved over time. The event’s strategic value for the promotion of Made in Italy around the world is recognised by the patronage of the Ministries of Culture and Enterprises and Made in Italy, together with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italian Trade Agency. This was also made possible thanks to the collaboration with the Toscana Film Commission, which contributed to making the event even more professional and effective by providing the Cinema La Compagnia and Palazzo degli Affari venues.”
Stefania Ippoliti, Director of the Toscana Film Commission, commented: “First Playable is now operating at the highest level in terms of the quality and quantity of participants, the excellent standard of proposals, and the support of the most important Italian institutions. We are proud that it is being held in Tuscany, Florence, and the Palazzo degli Affari — a formidable, efficient location with logistical perfection and the full support of the Tuscany Region, which has invested new resources in the field this year thanks to the European Social Fund. Tuscany has decided to invest in the future, in the creativity and talent of these young entrepreneurs from IIDEA, supporting them with confidence and optimism.”
Matteo Masini, Head of the Italian Trade Agency’s Consumer Goods Office, stated: ‘In this 2025 edition too, the ICE Agency has collaborated with First Playable to support and promote the growth and internationalisation of Italian video game companies. We have organised the participation of a delegation of high-profile international operators in the event, inviting them through the offices of our foreign network in the most interesting European and global markets. This international presence continues to grow and consolidate year on year, demonstrating ever-increasing interest in collaborating with Italy and the great potential of Italian development companies on foreign markets.”
Full details of the recently concluded event are available on the official website: www.firstplayable.it.
