Esports · Events · Gaming
Gamancos
Video game competitions between universities: from a pilot tournament in Valencia to Dreamhack.
Co-founder & CEO · 2014 — 2016
What it was
Gamancos was created to bring the university gamer community together: pitting universities against each other in video game competitions and crowning a champion every year. It started as an idea between two friends passionate about games and grew into in-person events.
The origin
The first tournament pitted the Universitat de València against the Politècnica de València. A pilot full of problems —the usual ones when you start— that we pulled off with the support of brands like the VSGamers store and Carlos's venue (Meltdown, Valencia's first franchise of gaming bars). The final was our first event: setup, testing and the satisfaction of watching it go well live.
Dreamhack and growth
We made the jump to Dreamhack Valencia, one of the country's big gamer events. We ran activities in the LAN area and League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm tournaments, and there we met Pedro Ollero (now head of Razer Iberia), who opened doors, and communities like Hands and Brain. We then kept running events at Valencia's gaming bars, collaborating with BTG.
The team
The best of Gamancos was the team: people who were as passionate about the project as I was and who are still my friends today. In fact, working shoulder to shoulder with Alberto at Gamancos was what led him to contact me later for the next project, Sanberry Cam.
The end
Team burnout and lack of availability —plus competitors with more resources— gradually slowed the events. After a second Dreamhack edition giving it our last push, we paused the project indefinitely. We never called it dead: it's still on standby.
What I learned
Gamancos taught me more than any class: that if you do what you love with effort you end up getting noticed; that even for the smallest thing you need a team, and you should surround yourself with people who are passionate about the project; that it pays to test the market and pivot; that you shouldn't fear rethinking everything from scratch; and that, whatever you do, judgment is your best weapon.