FFF Bayern Supported 329 Games With 21,720,997 Euros

During the warm-up for tomorrow's German Computer Game Award, FFF Bayern also celebrated the 15th anniversary of games funding in the state of Bavaria. In addition to astonishing figures from Managing Director Dorothee Erpenstein, there were also congratulations from the Bavarian Digital Minister, who was in attendance.

On the eve of the German Computer Game Award (Deutscher Computerspielpreis, DCP) ceremony, which will take place in Munich this year, the FFF Bayern, the institution responsible for games funding in Bavaria, hosted a relaxed warm-up event. Many representatives of the Munich and Bavarian games industry accepted the invitation, as well as representatives from other German states, the German Games Association and the German Ministry of Economics. They all found themselves at a kind of birthday party, as the FFF Bayern also used the reception to celebrate a special anniversary: in 2009, 15 years ago, games were funded in Bavaria for the first time - with the "staggering sum" of €240,000, as Bavarian Digital Minister Dr Fabian Mehring, who was also present, ironically said.

Today, things look very different. Last year alone, thanks to a one-off special injection of funds, a total of 50 games were awarded €3.3 million in Bavaria. The minister congratulated the FFF on its anniversary and praised the pioneering work that the film funding organisation has done for the games sector over the years. And he casually announced a goal that has already been set in other federal states. "Let's make Bavaria the number one games state in Germany and Europe in the next 15 years," said Mehring.

Dorothee Erpenstein, managing director of the FFF, had already taken over the actual review of the FFF's work. When the funding programme was launched, Erpenstein was still working at the Ministry and was involved in setting the course. In her speech, she not only looked back at the development of the games industry in Bavaria over the past 15 years, but also at the milestones that the FFF has achieved in this time.

"These include the increase in the number of award ceremonies from one to three per year, more staff for games, the increase in the amount of funding from 500,000 to almost two million euros, which was often topped up depending on the budget situation. We have established the funding guideline, it has been notified (by the EU) and the returns are also part of the harvest of 15 years of games funding," said Erpenstein.

She concluded by quoting some impressive figures to mark the anniversary. For example, the FFF Bayern has supported a total of 329 games since the start of funding. Over the years, a total of €21,720,997 has been made available. FFF Bayern has advised and supported many of today's established studios from the very beginning. As an example, she cited Pixel Maniacs and Aesir Interactive, both of which are coincidentally nominated in the Best Studio of the Year category at the DCP. It remains to be seen whether the jury will do the host state of Bavaria a favour by choosing one of the two studios as the winner.