Business Game Studies Watchlist 2026 #12 The Game Studies Watchlist newsletter, curated by Prof Dr Rudolf Inderst, is published weekly on GamesMarkt. This week's topics include the unforgivable in stories, the new DiGRA DACH chapter page, the Elizabeth Magie Prize for student papers and more. By Pascal Wagner • 3 min read
Business Both Game Industry Conferences 2026 Have Opened Ticket Sales Katowice in June and Poznan in October: Both GIC in Poland have opened ticket sales now, with early bird discounts and a "buy one, get one 50% off" offer. The regular GIC in Poznan will once again take place next to Poznan Game Arena. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Business Nordic Game 2026 Premieres AI Track, First Talks Revealed For the first time, Nordic Game Spring 2026 will have a dedicated session track for the topic of AI in gaming. Now, the organisers have revealed the first talks and speakers from the track. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Business Elimu Goal and Futuregames Partner for African-European Be Ubuntu Game Jam The Be Ubuntu Game Jam by Elimu Goal and Futuregames wants to bring together teams and senior dev from Africa and Europe for united game development: The online jam will start on 14 April. Registration is open now. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Oh Apollo! (Blue Backpack) Products Blue Backpack's Next Game is Oh Apollo!, an Oracle Management Game With their next game, Blue Backpack might revisit the Constance visual style, but not the action genre: Oh Apollo! is a cosy management game in which players are Pythia, oracle of the greek god. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
The Bus © Aerosoft and TML-Studios Products The Bus: As Realistic As a Berlin Trip If you miss the experiences a trip with Berlin’s BVG bus lines brings, but want to be at the helm, there’s no better way than The Bus by Aerosoft and TML-Studios. Even Hamburgian northern lights will get their fill. By Pascal Wagner • 5 min read
It’s Always Happy at Chubby’s is one of the funded titles. It's the first horror title by Pixel Maniacs (Pixel Maniacs) Products FFF Bayern Funds 14 Games With 1€ Mil in March 2026 Round Among the recently FFF-funded games are the next title by Slime King Games after Under the Island, Pixel Maniacs' first horror title, the successor to Tavern Talk by Gentle Troll, Chimera Entertainment's upcoming game and many more. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Saxonian Economy Minister Dirk Panter (left) giving the funding documents to Kreatives Sachsen (Ministry of Economy Saxonia) Business Kreatives Sachsen Reforms as GmbH, Gets Funding The former competence center of the cultural and creative industries in Saxonia, Kreatives Sachsen, has received structural funding from the Economy Ministry and restructures as a GmbH. As part of the cultural and creative industries, the gaming sector in Saxony could also benefit. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Products Funtainment Cooperates with Figuya x Konsolenkost At New Munich Location Figuya x Konsolenkost and Funtainment are cooperating at a new Munich location with store in store concepts. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
From Left: Colin Anderson, Ross Laurie, and Peter van der Watt of Reforged (Reforged). People Reforged Studios Acquires Headup Games from Düren After divesting from Thunderful in 2024, the until-now independent indie publisher Headup has been fully acquired by Reforged Studios from Malta. Dieter Schoeller will remain in charge while also becoming Chief Publishing Officer at group level. No jobs are supposed to be lost. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
The stage at Spiel Essen 2025 (Spiel Essen) Events Spiel.Talks Submissions for Spiel Essen 2026 Now Open Boardgame designers, researchers and other experts can now submit Spiel.Talks for the main stage at Spiel Essen 2026 from 22-25 October. Three days will focus on B2C, while the Educator's Day on Friday welcomes all scientific and scholarly perspectives. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Flanked by the Cosplaystammtisch Hof (left and right), the organisers (from left) Johannes Wurm, Kevin Pollak, Ariane Pollak, Stefan Preisinger and District Administrator Oliver Bär presenting the fresh posters for LFG Con 2026 (Landratsamt Hof). People LFG Con 2026 Press Conference: All That's New New ticket structures, an app, FFF Bavaria as a new funding partner, MTG and Pokémon TCG tournaments and much more: At today's press conference in Hof, the LFG Con has presented their 2026 event plans together with District Administrator Oliver Bär. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
