The 2021-2027 mid-term report of Creative Europe Media shows that a third of EU-funded games reach a form of commercial release. The EU Commission also notes that games funding demand "largely exceeds current budget envelopes".
The European Commission has published their mid-term report for the funding period 2021-2027, including an evaluation of ten years of Creative Europe. The report covers the final evaluation of the 2014–2020 funding period and the mid-term evaluation of the current 2021–2027 program, and is based on internal data collection and analysis as well as an external study.
The report isn’t very particular about funded games, but has one item of note to say: "A third of video games developed with the help of MEDIA funding were eventually commercialised, a sign of success in a highly competitive and dynamic sector", the report says. Over all media forms combined (meaning film, series, games and VR), Media-supported works achieved around 1,200 nominations and 500 awards at festivals and award ceremonies.
Furthermore, a future view for the games funding sector is noted at the end of the report: "On videogames, demand for support in this dynamic and fast-growing sector largely exceeds current budget envelopes. While adjustments have already been made in several MEDIA actions to reflect both its economic importance and appeal among Europeans of all ages, further reflection is needed on how best to strengthen this support in the future."
The report is of course much more detailed about the movie sector, the main leg of Creative Europe Media’s funding capacity. Films and series funded by Creative Europe reached a wider audience than non-supported European works. On average, they were shown on television in 9.5 additional EU countries, in cinemas in 6.6 additional countries, and on online platforms in 3.3 additional countries. Cross-border cooperation was also stronger: around 84 percent of the works supported in the current program are European co-productions, compared to around 14 percent for non-supported productions.
Just a day before the report, Creative Europe Media has released the current funding round results for film, series and VR. In there, 40 projects from 22 countries receive just under €6.5 million from Creative Europe Media.
Over 1.1 million euros of these are going to the following six projects led by Germany, representing 17% of the total amount.
