Vibrant Greek gaming community trying to catch up with the industry

Gamers all over the world play the games created by Ares Dragonis in his home in the central Greek city of Larissa. The 34-year-old was an avid gamer himself as a boy and wondered who designed the graphics and characters of the games he played himself back then, while he also had a talent for drawing. Those two passions are perfectly united in his current profession as a video game developer.

He studied 3D animation, honed his skills in character development, and worked with a number of small game development firms until he launched his own game in 2018. "The Shore" exceeded all expectations, with more than 80,000 sales and some 25 million views on social media.

Dragonis' story is pretty typical of the Greek industry, which is chiefly composed of freelancers or small groups who also work with companies abroad. "There's only a handful of us who make a living from this...