Supplier News
Spain – R. Franco hosts Game Weekend on Google campus
By Lewis - 7 July 2016
Game Weekend was recently staged at Campus Madrid, Google’s space for entrepreneurs in Spain. This first edition of R. Franco’s hackathon was attended by more than 50 professionals from throughout Spain.
After the presentation and creation of the teams, Game Weekend began with ThinkersCo’s Rafael Zaragoza’s workshop about creativity, focused on the user of games and applications. Next, Recreativos Franco’s head of digital content, Miguel Ángel Lázaro, launched the challenge: creating the prototype of a game with cash in and cash out. The countdown was on. The participants, supported at all times by experts from different areas, had 15 hours to develop the winning project and win the €3,000 cash prize.
On Saturday at 9.00 p.m., after each team had presented their game, a jury of experts chose the winning project: TAKEN, developed by David Burgos, Jorge García, Pablo Arias and Alex Serrano. The special feature of this game and what the jury most liked was that it developed upon Google’s Street View, something very innovating in the gambling world. “These were two days of intense work, anticipation, ideas and laughter which bore fruit and which we hope to replicate in the future”, commented David Burgos, a member of the winning team.
The participants had the opportunity to meet members of Recreativos Franco’s team during a tapas dinner held at Google’s space.
Alejandro Casanova, R. Franco’s New Business Manager and CDO, was very happy and satisfied with the outcome: “We were surprised by participants’ level and the high quality of the projects. We would wish to say thank you for the wonderful welcome given to this initiative and the help provided by our own and external co-operators.”
R. Franco recently created its New Business division, guiding R. Franco Group’s transformation towards new digital business models. The three foundation pillars that support the on-line strategy are on-line operation, game development and distribution and platform-based products. Game Weekend is part of R. Franco’s new strategy intended to support young people who share the company’s goals: to make the entertaining world reach the largest possible number of people.
