Careers Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona '25: Connecting Talent and Job Opportunities
When Pocket Gamer Connects finally landed in Barcelona on June 3–4, 2025, it kicked off with a bang - drawing over 1,000 attendees from 47 countries and more than 520 companies . The Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower buzzed with a dynamic mix of industry movers—from mobile, PC, and console developers to AI, XR, and web3 innovators .
But for many attendees, one space stood out: the Careers Zone.
In a year marked by turbulence, layoffs, and growing uncertainty in the games job market, the Careers Zone emerged as a beacon of structured support. Built by Games Factory Talents and powered by AI matchmaking, the initiative was designed with a clear mission: To connect talent with career opportunities.
Hiring managers today face hundreds of CVs per role, and qualified talent often gets lost in the flood. That’s why the Careers Zone doesn’t just offer a job board. It provides AI-powered, curated matches, helping studios and candidates find each other fast - onsite and online.
From the London event, which innovated career matchmaking with the introduction of a Talent Board allowing hiring studios to proactively discover candidates based on anonymous profiles Barcelona adopted this evolution and levelled it up with AI‑Powered Matchmaking.
What Made Barcelona Careers Zone Stand Out
The Barcelona Careers Zone delivered a smart tool for smarter hiring. Attendees were matched based on skillsets, interests, and hiring goals - automatically and with purpose.Here’s how it played out:
- 224 job seekers joined
- 13 live job openings posted
- 372 intelligent matches made
- 121 applications submitted
Attendees benefited from tailored, match-based meetings with recruiters from growing and hiring game studios, ensuring that each interaction is targeted and relevant. This focus on relevance is what makes the Careers Zone a critical bridge in the gaming job market, connecting talent with opportunities and facilitating valuable connections.
A Proven Success in the Gaming Industry
This intuitive system ensured that attendees with the right skills were presented with relevant job opportunities, making the networking experience both efficient and productive. The recruiters could also easily view attendees that match their open roles and book meetings online or onsite. The response from both job seekers and studios was very positive.
As the Careers Zone sponsor at Pocket Gamer Connects in our home city of Barcelona, Sandsoft was proud to support an initiative that connects talent with the career opportunities in the games industry. The event provided us with a valuable opportunity to meet a wide range of skilled professionals, and we conducted numerous onsite meetings with promising candidates.
We also appreciated the effectiveness of Games Factory Talents’ matchmaking platform, which enabled us to identify and connect with candidates whose skills aligned with our open rolesboth in person and online. Meeting talent face to face offers a significantly different and more engaging experience than virtual interactions.
For any company looking to scale and hire talent in the gaming industry, we highly recommend participating in the Careers Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects events.
We also appreciated the effectiveness of Games Factory Talents’ matchmaking platform, which enabled us to identify and connect with candidates whose skills aligned with our open rolesboth in person and online. Meeting talent face to face offers a significantly different and more engaging experience than virtual interactions.
For any company looking to scale and hire talent in the gaming industry, we highly recommend participating in the Careers Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects events.
Aleksandra Korbolewska
Talent Acquisition Lead at Sandsoft
Talent Acquisition Lead at Sandsoft
Candidates who join the Careers Zone as job seekers are more likely to make a lasting impression when engaging face-to-face with employers. Even candidates who weren’t admitted on-site gained a competitive edge by entering the Games Factory Talents pool, positioning themselves for future opportunities.
We recognize the challenges facing the games industry today, and we're proud to support job seekers through our events.
Thanks to our collaboration with Games Factory Talents, we've created a streamlined, effective way for talent and studios to connect directly at our conferences.
We're excited to continue this partnership at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, delivering even more value to attendees and our industry partners.
Thanks to our collaboration with Games Factory Talents, we've created a streamlined, effective way for talent and studios to connect directly at our conferences.
We're excited to continue this partnership at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, delivering even more value to attendees and our industry partners.
Dave Bradley
COO at Steel Media Ltd (Pocket Gamer)
Empowering Job Seekers Beyond the Booth
Beyond matchmaking, the Careers Zone traditionally provided hands-on review and feedback services, including CV and LinkedIn profile reviews. Personalized feedback helped candidates elevate their personal profiles and optimize their approach to job searching, enhancing their visibility to recruiters both at the event and beyond.
Hosting the Careers Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects Barcelona was a fantastic opportunity to connect talent with career opportunities once again.
We enhanced our AI matchmaking tool to better facilitate both online and onsite meetings, and introduced a messaging feature that enabled direct conversations between job seekers and recruiters.
It’s great to see Pocket Gamer Connects continuing to support job seekers, especially during such challenging times for the games industry.
We enhanced our AI matchmaking tool to better facilitate both online and onsite meetings, and introduced a messaging feature that enabled direct conversations between job seekers and recruiters.
It’s great to see Pocket Gamer Connects continuing to support job seekers, especially during such challenging times for the games industry.
Oleg Paliy
Games Factory Talents
Building a Talent Ecosystem for the Gaming Industry
The Careers Zone is no longer just a conference feature. It's quickly becoming a new standard for how hiring happens in the games industry. By blending AI-powered matchmaking with face-to-face interaction, it's reshaping the way studios discover talent and how professionals access real opportunities.
Each edition of the Careers Zone builds on the momentum of the last, forming a growing, connected ecosystem that lives far beyond the event itself a smarter, more human alternative to traditional job boards.
Quote from an attendee: “The Careers Zone helped me meet people I would have never reached through regular job boards. Being there in person made all the difference.”
What's next?
Careers Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects in Helsinki on October 7-8th
The Careers Zone is available at the upcoming Pocket Gamer Connects conference in Helsinki this October. If you are looking for your next career opportunity make sure you send your application.
Would you like to publish your roles at the Careers Zone at PG Connects Helsinki?
Oleg Paliy
Get in touch!
Previously Participating Studios
