The young Lanzarote native, Gorka Aranzábal, has managed to make his projects reach a global audience from his home, at just 15 years old. The creation of a successful survival video game has led to the incorporation of other advanced technologies, as well as the first steps in the field of training.
At 15 years old, Gorka's adventure has led him to immerse himself in technologies as novel as the metaverse and blockchain, in its cryptocurrency and NFT aspects. NFTs, digital assets that cannot be modified, are the new derivative of his Bromeliad video game.
Bromealiad has had a great impact internationally, with sales in countries such as the United States and Australia. The video game created by Gorka is now in the improvement phase, with new features such as the multiplayer option and evolutions in the final phase of the game.
"Bromeliad has had a great impact on my life, because thanks to it I have created my own community of players and new projects have come my way."
Serendipity has made the video game merge with new trends in technology such as blockchain, so that players have the possibility of investing in a real value in the game, which can be exchanged or sold.
"Now the trend is to add NFTs to games so that the game accessories you buy or sell have their own decentralized economy," explains Gorka. "I am experimenting with a beta to integrate my game with the blockchain, incorporating NFTs."
The young entrepreneur from Lanzarote is also now exploring the metaverse space, which has allowed him to be on a panel at an international cryptocurrency event, along with prominent figures in this sector such as the CEO of Star Atlas, one of the most anticipated games that will integrate the Blockchain using crypto and NFTs.
His increasingly specialized experience has led him to also start online training, giving programming classes on the famous video game creation platform Unity to a 22-year-old industrial engineer who is in Estonia. He also collaborates with a studio in Barcelona, with professionals between 21 and 30 years old, where they are developing a game with an advanced and innovative economic system.
"I have been offered many more projects, but there are so many that unfortunately I cannot combine them with studies and sports," says the young man.
Entrepreneurship and programming from home
Gorka insists that the key to succeeding in this world is continuous training in new technologies. He himself continues to train every day, as the video game industry evolves at a dizzying speed.
"The Canary Islands, and especially Lanzarote, is a perfect place to start a business in the world of video games, since everything is done online," says Gorka. "In fact, a few weeks ago I was offered a job in the Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean, since I have no problem connecting with them from here," although the incompatibility with his studies prevented him from accepting it.
"The best advice I can give to someone who wants to start creating video games is to download the Unity program, and experiment by watching beginner tutorials on YouTube."
While reaching Gorka's milestones at his age may not be within everyone's reach, his story seems to demonstrate that there are no geographical barriers for young people from the Canary Islands to develop in the world of video games.
