Why Face-to-Face Still Wins: Careers Zone at PG Connects Barcelona

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.

Where Opportunity Meets Preparation

The Careers Zone is a dedicated space within PG Connects where growing companies and job seekers come together — with a twist. Alongside the in-person meetings, a smart matchmaking platform lets candidates browse opportunities and book sessions with companies ahead of the event. By the time everyone arrived in Barcelona, the conversations were already lined up and the introductions were already warm.

But this edition went further. The Careers Zone also hosted a series of talks and panel discussions focused on the state of the games job market — what it takes to land a role today, where the opportunities are, and what career growth looks like in an industry that's constantly evolving. For job seekers, it wasn't just a chance to meet employers; it was a chance to get a clearer picture of where the industry is heading and how to position themselves for it.

What Happened in Barcelona

The numbers tell a clean story: 25 job seekers. 22 open roles. One Careers Zone.
Barcelona was the biggest Careers Zone we've run yet and it showed. Growing companies came ready to hire, and job seekers came ready to be found. That's exactly what the Careers Zone is built for: Matching Talent with Opportunities.

Companies came with real intent. Several hiring teams including our client Just Play signed up for recruiter packages and published their open roles on the matchmaking platform ahead of the event, so candidates could browse, match, and book meetings before anyone set foot in Barcelona. That's the format working as intended: companies don't show up and hope for the best, they arrive with roles defined and a calendar already full of relevant conversations.

In Their Own Words

One of the companies at this year's Careers Zone was Appodeal, a leading mobile app monetization platform. Their recruitment team flew in specifically to meet talent through the matchmaking format — and they left with more than they expected.
Here's what Olga Petriakova from Appodeal had to say:

That's what the Careers Zone is designed to produce — not just meetings, but momentum.

None of this would have been possible without the companies who believed in the format and chose to invest in it. This year's Careers Zone at PG Connects Barcelona was made possible by our sponsors — Appodeal and Gameloft Barcelona. On behalf of Games Factory Talents and every candidate who walked through those doors, thank you. Your support is what turns a good idea into a real experience that changes people's career trajectories.

Why It Works

A CV tells you what someone did. A conversation tells you who they are. Eye contact. A handshake. The energy in the room. That's what gets people hired — and that's what no resume can replicate.

Both sides show up differently when they meet in person. Both sides connect differently. And the results speak for themselves.
The Careers Zone compresses the best parts of a hiring process into two focused days:

• Pre-matched conversations mean no wasted slots — every meeting has mutual intent
• A dedicated space removes the chaos of a conference floor
• Industry context means candidates and companies already speak the same language

The result? Faster trust. Deeper conversations. Better hires.

From Event Feature to Always-On Matchmaking Portal

One of the biggest shifts with the Careers Zone is that it no longer goes dark between conferences.
Your profile keeps working. As hiring companies join the platform and publish new roles — whether or not there's an event on the horizon — the matchmaking keeps running. That means candidates who build their profile today can receive personalised matches from studios actively hiring right now, not just during a PG Connects week.

This is the evolution: Careers Zone as a permanent, always-on home for games industry talent and opportunity — with live events as the moments where those connections go deeper, face to face.

For candidates, the message is simple: don't wait for the next conference. Get your profile in now. New roles are coming through from hiring companies all the time, and the earlier your profile is live and up to date, the more signal you're sending to the studios looking for someone exactly like you.

Register as a candidate or hiring company at gamesfactorytalents.com/careers-zone

What's Next

Barcelona was one stop on a longer journey. The Careers Zone travels with PG Connects across the global games calendar, and each event adds new companies, new roles, and new conversations to the platform.

But between the events? The portal stays open. Companies keep publishing. Matches keep happening.
If you're a games professional looking for your next move — get your profile into the Careers Zone now. And if you're a studio or hiring team ready to find talent worth meeting, the platform is ready for you too.

The gap between talent and opportunity is exactly what we're here to close. Come be part of it.

Want to Join the Next Careers Zone Onsite?

If you're a job seeker who wants to attend PG Connects in person, there's a special job seeker ticket available — but you won't find it through the standard conference registration. You request it directly through the Careers Zone portal, under the Events section.

Tickets are subject to approval — your profile will be reviewed before a place is confirmed — so make sure your profile is complete and up to date when you apply. Once approved, you can pre-book meetings onsite of the event, and show up with your schedule already set.

What's Next: PG Connects Nordics, October 20–21, 2026

The next stop is PG Connects Nordics — taking place 20–21 October 2026 in Helsinki. The Careers Zone will be there, and we're already building the lineup of hiring companies and open roles for the platform.

Don't wait until October to sign up. Get your candidate profile into the Careers Zone now. New roles are being published by hiring companies all the time, and the earlier your profile is live, the more visibility you get — both before and during the event.