Zagarolo Game City

Video games meet the city at the gates of Rome

Located about thirty kilometers from the capital, in the Monti Prenestini area, the town of Zagarolo has chosen to invest in a sector unexpected for a historic village in Lazio: video games. Zagarolo Game City is the acceleration program promoted by the Lazio Region and Lazio Innova that, since 2021, has transformed the 16th-century Palazzo Rospigliosi — home to the Spazio Attivo LOIC — into a permanent laboratory for developers, game designers, and digital artists.

How the acceleration path works

The core of the initiative is an annual call for informal teams, startups, and development studios working on video games or hybrid games: phygital and transmedia experiences, immersive installations, gamified experiences, LBX, and tabletop role-playing games hybridized with digital elements. Selected projects follow a structured multi-phase path: an initial training phase on leadership, game design, prototyping, and business models, followed by a long development phase featuring specialized sessions, meetings with publishers, and support in securing funding, culminating in the final awards.

Prizes and concrete opportunities

Each edition offers cash prizes and mentorship programs: in 2025, the two winning studios each received 20,000 euros plus 12 months of mentorship with specialized services valued at 9,000 euros, while the 2026 call features a 40,000 euro prize. Throughout the program, participants gain free access to the regional FabLab network, the collaborative spaces of the Spazio Attivo, and a network of national and international mentors, with partners such as Xbox, Giochi Uniti, IIDEA, and academic institutions like RUFA.

The Zagarolo Game House

Alongside the acceleration program is the Zagarolo Game House, a three-month pre-acceleration cycle aimed at students, young professionals, and startups. It offers training sessions on game design, programming, art, funding, and social media, along with dedicated mentoring. It serves as a gateway for those taking their first steps in the industry and has already helped launch new startups in Lazio.

Events open to all: the Zagarolo Game City Fest

The project is not just for industry insiders. With events like the Zagarolo Game City Fest — a free, experiential gaming day hosted at Palazzo Rospigliosi as part of Rome Future Week, specifically dedicated to tabletop role-playing games — the gaming community gathers in the village for tournaments, play sessions, and activities for a broad and diverse audience.

A European project rooted in the territory

Zagarolo Game City is part of the Spazio Attivo Network Enhancement Project, funded by the PR Lazio FESR 2021-2027: a European investment aimed at making the Lazio economy competitive in the video game industry, creating qualified employment in the Metropolitan City of Rome. For Zagarolo, it is also a bet on its own identity: the home of the Toy Museum is now known throughout Italy as the "city of games".