SAGA Barcelona Game Fest will make its first appearance at Barcelona’s Montjuïc trade fair complex from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October 2026, after being launched at the Palau Marc on 30 July. Organisers expect more than 20,000 people at the event, which brings together videogame players, creators and industry professionals.

For residents, families and players, the festival will offer more than 400 gaming points across over 14,000 square metres, including classic and contemporary games, virtual reality, simulation and eSports. The programme also includes more than 80 activities, from workshops and talks to competitions and shows.

“It is much more than a new videogame show: it is a project for growing the industry, promoting talent and consolidating Catalan as a language for creativity, gaming and community,” said Roger Serra, the Government of Catalonia’s Director General of Language Policy in technological and audiovisual fields.

Games, exhibitions and family activities planned

Raquel Torreno, a SAGA Barcelona Game Fest representative, said the move to the Montjuïc venue would allow the event to expand its formats and become a meeting place for the wider videogame community.

  • A new family area will be designed for children, young people and adults to play together.
  • The Videogame Museum of Catalunya, known as MUVIC, will offer a history of videogames and guided tours in Catalan throughout the weekend.
  • The programme will include Tokyo’s Famicase Collection, featuring 250 game cases illustrated by artists from around the world, the Glitch Collection experimental games area, and the IndieDevDay Awards.

Japan will be the guest country for the first edition, with Portugal also sending a delegation. The event has announced appearances by Japanese composers Miki Higashino, known for the Suikoden soundtrack, and Manami Matsumae, who composed the original soundtrack for Mega Man.

Studios and publishers including The Behemoth, Devolver Digital and Super Rare Games are also due to take part, alongside professionals connected with Larian Studios and Gameloft. The business area is expected to host more than 1,200 meetings involving studios, publishers, investors and other professionals.

Three existing events combine under the SAGA name

The festival combines BCN Game Fest, promoted by the Catalan Institute for Alternative Leisure and New Technologies, known as ICOA; RetroBarcelona; and the Saga Gaming Salon, organised by Plataforma per la Llengua, a language-rights organisation. Carles Garcia, an event representative, said the alliance aimed to represent the diversity of the sector with a larger international profile.

Catalan will be used across the festival’s games, activities, professional areas and broadcasts, according to co-spokesperson David Poudevida. Organisers said around 60 videogames will be available in Catalan.

“We want Catalan to be present with absolute normality everywhere at the SAGA Barcelona Game Fest: in the videogames, the activities, the professional areas and also in the broadcasts,” Poudevida said.

Poudevida cited a GESOP survey commissioned by Plataforma per la Llengua which found that seven in ten videogame players would choose to play in Catalan if the option were available. Among Catalan speakers, the figure was 86.7%.

Reported by Sagabarcelonagamefest (official press material).