imagin and PlayStation join forces to foster video game development in the metaverse

• On 26 November, the imaginMetaHack, a hackathon in which participants will have to create a video game on PlayStation’s Dreams platform, will be held
• imagin and PlayStation aim to encourage innovation, talent and the development of new ideas in immersive environments through imaginMetaHack.
• The activity is part of the imaginLAND project, in which imagin runs initiatives within the metaverse and virtual reality.

imagin, the digital services and lifestyle platform led by CaixaBank, and PlayStation, through PlayStation Spain and PlayStation Talents, have jointly organised a hackathon to develop video games in virtual reality. The primary goal of imaginMetaHack, which will be held on Saturday 26 November at the imaginCafé in Barcelona, is to foster innovation in the video game industry and in the metaverse.

The competition will feature a total of 20 participating teams that will have to create a video game on the PlayStation Dreams platform. After an exhaustive judging process, a team of specialists from imagin and PlayStation have selected these 20 teams from among the more than 200 registered participants who submitted their applications to take part over the last few weeks.

The teams comprise contestants from various cities in Spain who, with a grant from imagin, will travel to Barcelona to compete in the grand final of imaginMetaHack this coming Saturday. Between 11am and 11pm, the contestants will have to develop an original proposal for a virtual reality video game that embodies the values associated with imagin and PlayStation, such as innovation and sustainability.  Following the 12-hour hackathon, a jury made up of four experts will choose the winners. The winning team will receive €1,000, a PS5 console and a PS Plus subscription for each of its members.

The event will feature two DJs who will entertain the contestants, two lounge and chill areas to unwind, and a catering service. A team of eight mentors formed by professionals from imagin and PlayStation will also answer participants’ questions during the imaginMetaHack.

imagin and PlayStation have joined forces to encourage innovation, talent and the development of new ideas in immersive environments through this initiative. The imaginMetaHack is held within the framework of imaginLAND, the project through which imagin conducts actions in the metaverse and virtual reality. Additionally, imagin has a dedicated video game content and initiatives programme, imaginGames, through which imaginers are offered gaming experiences, services and products.

About imagin

imagin is a lifestyle platform promoted by CaixaBank that offers digital, financial and non-financial services that help its users, mainly young people under 30, with their daily lives and future projects. It currently has a community of 4 million users, a figure that is constantly growing thanks to the wide range of content and services—many of them free to access—and to how easy it is to sign up and associate products, something that, unlike traditional banks, does not necessarily involve registering as a financial customer.  

The digital contents of imagin are organised around five core areas: music (imaginMusic), videogames (imaginGames), trends (imaginCafé), technology (imaginShop) and sustainability (imaginPlanet). In addition, the imagin application provides a range of financial products to cover the saving and financing needs of young people as they transition into adulthood and start to have their own income and their own lifestyle projects.  

About PlayStation

About Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe:

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the recognized world leader in interactive and digital entertainment and is responsible for the PlayStation® brand and its family of products and services. PlayStation has brought innovation to the market since the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan in 1994. The PlayStation product family includes PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStationTMStore, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStationTMVideo, PlayStation TMMusic, PlayStationTMNow and acclaimed software titles for PlayStation from SIE Worldwide Studios. SIE, headquartered in San Mateo, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation and has global operations in California, London and Tokyo.

About PlayStation® Talents:

Sony Interactive Entertainment Spain launched PlayStation®Talents in 2015, a comprehensive programme that brings together all the initiatives implemented by the company for more than a decade to develop Spanish talent, with the goal of supporting it and creating video games developed entirely in our country to be sold worldwide. PlayStation®Talents comprises:

• Two educational areas: PlayStation® Future Talents and PlayStation® First.
• Prizes PlayStation®, geared towards independent studies.
• PlayStation® Games Camp, an incubator for development studios which this year has opened its doors to fourteen companies with projects in beta phase, based in: Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia, Barcelona, Málaga and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
• PlayStation® Alianzas, which encompasses the various projects created by consolidated national studios operating beyond our borders.