“Computer games are like works of art”: Czech video games conquer the world

The Visiongame archive contains over five thousand Czech and Slovak titles. "Computer games are like works of art. We need to archive them for future generations," says Miroslav Žák, a collector of videogames. “For stronger growth and competitiveness, we need to attract more people to the gaming industry,” says Pavel Barák, chairman of the Association of Czech Game Developers.

The Czech Centres and Radio Prague International have jointly produced a series of 10 short videos focusing on contemporary Czech computer games. The series precedes the upcoming exhibition project Infinite Universes – Czech Games and Their Global Success, initiated by the Czech Centres and produced in cooperation with a wide range of partners.

The first episode will be introduced by the exhibition curator Miroslav Žák, founder of VISIONGAME.CZ, an archive of Czech and Slovak games, and Pavel Barák, the Chairman of The Czech Game Developers Association. The other episodes will feature eight studios and will showcase the diversity of the contemporary Czech gaming scene. The final episode will feature Michal Berlinger from FAMU as a representative of game design education.

The series starts on October 19, 2023 across the Czech Centres’ and Radio Prague International social media platforms. New episodes will be launched each Thursday until December 21, 2023.

The exhibition project will be launched internationally in 2024. A pop-up version will be introduced at the 2023 Game Developers Session Prague at the beginning of December.

Pavel Barák|Photo: Barbora Navrátilová, Radio Prague International

Miroslav Žák|Photo: Barbora Navrátilová, Radio Prague International