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This article is about the video game market and culture in Belgium.

Consumer availability

Distribution

Distribution in Belgium is usually done by publishers that cover the entire Benelux, although some of the publishers' offices are located in Belgium. Since not every publisher has a separate office for the Benelux, certain publishers take care of multiple labels, including those of other publishers.

Rating

Belgium supports the PEGI rating system but there is no legislative basis. PEGI was developed and is owned by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe which is based in Brussels.

Sales

In 2011, the Belgian consumer bought 6.54 million games. More than 84% of those games were console games. The sales generated a revenue of 220 million euro, which means they stayed stable compared to 2010.

Belgium's appearance in video games

Belgium as a setting

Belgium is not often used as an originally created setting for video games, although it does appear in some types of simulation games.

World War II games

The famous Battle of the Bulge is featured in the following video games:

• Battle of the Bulge, various wargames simulating the battle.
• Call of Duty: United Offensive, the American campaign is set during the Battle of the Bulge.
• Medal of Honor: European Assault, the final campaign is set at the start of the Battle.
• Bulge '44 (HPS Simulations) An operational level strategy wargame, covering many scenarios, both historic and alternative.
• Call of Duty: WWII, Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes map in multiplayer

Racing games

• Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is a popular racing circuit. It's the host of the Belgian Grand Prix and has been featured in many Formula One games and other racing games like Need for Speed: Shift, Race Driver: Grid, Forza Motorsport 5 and Gran Turismo.

Belgian video game characters

• Anna from the game Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a nurse who was born in Ypres
• In most of the international sports games, such as the FIFA football games and olympic video games, teams or players from Belgium are featured.
• Phillipe Loren, one of Saints Row The Third's villains is of Belgian origin.
• Sens from the game Rainbow 6 Siege

Video games based on Belgian works

Many video games are based on Belgian comic books:

• XIII
• Video games based on The Adventures of Tintin
• Video games based on The Smurfs
• Largo Winch: Empire Under Threat
• Spirou
• Video games based on Lucky Luke

Video game development

Representation

The Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) is the organization that represents the interests of the music, video and video game industries in Belgium.

The Flemish Games Association (FLEGA) represents the Flemish video game industry, The Brussels-Capital Region Games Association (games.brussels) represents the Brussels video game industry, the Walloon Games Association (WALGA) represents the Walloon video game industry.

Game developers from Belgium

Also see external links.

There are 64 game developers registered with the Flemish Games Association. Some of the game development studios in Belgium include:

Defunct game developers

Games developed in Belgium

• Adventure Rock
• Ary and the Secret of Seasons
• Baldur's Gate III
• Beyond Divinity
• Divine Divinity
• Divinity II: Ego Draconis
• Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance
• Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga
• Divinity: Dragon Commander
• Divinity: Original Sin
• Divinity: Original Sin II
• EXR (app)
• Hyperball Racing
• Outcast
• Sunset
• The Endless Forest
• The Graveyard
• The Path
• Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries

Game publishers from Belgium

Education

University college

Other

Syntra LIMBURG offers multiple video game courses.

Media

Print media

Television

Programs

Defunct Programs

Defunct Channels

• GUNKtv

Online media

• eurogamer.be
• RTBF iXPé
• 9lives.be
• Sensei Gaming
• Les Players Du Dimanche
• N-Gamz
• 4WeAreGamers
• GameBrain
• Belgian Games Industry (Companies list)
• Belgian Game Industry Directory

References

1. Lenting, Tom (January 2019). "Een aanzet tot de gamegeschiedenis van België". Karel van Mander Academy. Retrieved 2019-09-20. (in Dutch)
2. "About PEGI? Owners and administrators". PEGI S.A. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
3. "Belgen hebben meer dan 6,5 miljoen games gekocht". BEA. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
4. drealmer (April 6, 2009). "Video Game Developers in Belgium".
5. Vlaamse Game Development Blog (January 15, 2011). "Vlaamse Game Developers".
6. "DIRECTORY". March 29, 2012.
7. "Bazookas' official website". bazookas.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
8. "Schools- GameCareerGuide.com". www.gamecareerguide.com.
9. "Werken in de gamesector". Departement cultuur, jeugd, sport en media. Retrieved 2012-07-22.

History of video games

v t e Chronology of video games Early history 1947–1972 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Near future v t e Video game history by platform By platform Early mainframe games History of arcade video games Golden age Timeline History of video game consoles Crash of 1983 Console war History of mobile games By console generation First (1972–1980) Second (1976–1992) Third (1983–2003) Fourth (1987–2003) Fifth (1993–2005) Sixth (1998–2013) Seventh (2005–2017) Eighth (2012–) Ninth (2020–) v t e Video game genres List of video game genres Action Platformer Endless runner Platform fighter Shooter Arena First-person Hero Light gun Shoot 'em up Bullet hell Rail Twin-stick Tactical Third-person Survival Battle royale Survival horror Other Beat 'em up Hack and slash Fighting Platform fighter Maze Pac-Man clone Snake Stealth Action-adventure Grand Theft Auto clone Metroidvania Adventure Escape room Graphic adventure Interactive fiction Interactive film Visual novel Walking sim Digital tabletop Deck-building Roguelike deck-building Digital collectible card Puzzle Hidden object Sokoban Tile-matching Role-playing Action role-playing Looter shooter Soulslike Dungeon crawl MMORPG Monster-taming Roguelike Roguelike deck-building Tactical role-playing Simulation Life Dating Farming God Social Virtual pet CMS Business City-building Government Sports Fishing Racing Kart racing Sim racing Vehicle Flight simulation Combat Lunar Lander Space Submarine simulator Train simulator Vehicular combat Other Falling-sand Immersive sim Strategy 4X Auto battler MOBA Real-time strategy Time management Real-time tactics Tactical role-playing Tower defense Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics Artillery Wargame Grand strategy Other genres Cozy Fitness Horror Survival horror Incremental Music Rhythm Non-game Party Photography Programming Typing Related concepts Themes Advergame Bishōjo Christian Comedy Educational Girls Licensed Otome Sexual Eroge Nonviolent Personalized Sci-fi Serious Art Climate change News Player modes Multiplayer Co-op MMO PVP Single-player Production AAA Indie Doujin soft Fan game Design Casual Hypercasual Emergent gameplay FMV Gacha Kaizo Masocore Nonlinear gameplay Open world Sandbox Side-scrolling Twitch gameplay Vertically scrolling Other Minigame Toys-to-life Video game clone Video game modding Video game remake v t e Video games by country Africa Ghana Kenya Nigeria South Africa Americas Latin America Brazil Colombia Canada United States Asia Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iran Japan South Korea Malaysia Philippines Russia Thailand Turkey Europe Belgium Czech Republic Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Oceania Australia New Zealand

• Video gaming in Belgium