© MGZ Business Mediengründerzentrum NRW Presents 2025 Scholarship Holders Eleven teams from the fields of film, TV, games, VR, social media, and content marketing have been selected by Mediengründerzentrum NRW as the 2025 scholarship holders and have now been officially presented. A year of support awaits them. For years, the Mediengründerzentrum NRW (Media Start-Up Centre NRW) has supported young By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Stefan Marcinek, CEO of Assemble Entertainment and Organiser of the GermanDevDays © Assemble Entertainment Business GermanDevDays Announces Date and Call for Papers Stefan Marcinek, founder and CEO of Assemble Entertainment, has confirmed that GDD – GermanDevDays will return in 2025. The conference is scheduled for July, and topic submissions will be accepted until 21 March. The exact location for GDD – GermanDevDays 2025 has yet to be determined. However, it is confirmed that the By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Her successor as Managing Director of Medien.Bayern has not yet been announced. In December, Lina was able to introduce Robin Rottmann as the team lead for the Games/Bavaria initiative, which she had been managing provisionally for several months. © Rottmann, Madsack Business Lina Timm to Leave Medien.Bayern Lina Timm, Managing Director of Medien.Bayern—which oversees initiatives such as Games/Bavaria, the XR Hub Bavaria, and Xplr: Media in Bavaria—will take on new responsibilities at the Madsack Media Group in mid-April, right after GG Bavaria. Her successor has not yet been announced. According to a press By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Between the preliminary rounds for the IEM Katowice 2025 (picture) and the grand final in front of a live audience, which begins tomorrow, ESL Faceit is announcing partnership deals like the one with Acer. © Enos Ku, ESL Business ESL Faceit Sings Acer as OEM Partner for Counter-Strike Ecosystem Shortly after extending its partnership with Intel, ESL has landed another partnership deal for its Counter-Strike ecosystem. Acer is becoming the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner of the ESL Pro Tour. This deal was also announced shortly before the first major tournament of the year, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Düsseldorf's Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller with Julia Pfiffer and Tim Schmitz, both Co-CEO of astragon (from left) © Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf/Ingo Lammert Business Everplay Subsidiary Astragon Welcomes Düsseldorf's Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller The purpose of the Mayor of Düsseldorf's visit to astragon was to gain insights into the company and to discuss the positioning of North Rhine-Westphalia as a business hub, potential joint events, and the empowerment of women in STEM professions. Düsseldorf's Lord Mayor, Dr. Stephan Keller, By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Intel will continue to work closely with ESL in the future, ensuring the future of the Intel Extreme Masters, like here in Cologne in 2024 © ESL/Helena Kristiansson Business ESL Faceit and Intel Extend Their Long-Standing Partnership Shortly before IEM Katowice, ESL Faceit and Intel announced an extension of their partnership, which has now lasted over 20 years. Since its launch, IEM events have accumulated more than 2 billion hours of streaming viewership. This is one of the most successful and, above all, longest-running partnerships in esports. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Stanley Pierre-Louis President & Chief Executive Officer of the ESA © Imago/Newscom World Business ESA Warns of the Consequences of Tariffs on Consoles The tariffs imposed by former US President Donald Trump on China, Mexico, and Canada will not leave the US gaming industry unscathed. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is warning of the consequences for American consumers and the broader US economy. The ESA published a statement on its website, cautioning not By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Brian Foote, CEO of Fireshine Games © Fireshone Games Business Brian Foote Succeeds James Cato as CEO of Fireshine Games A change at the top of Fireshine Games: The British publisher has appointed Brian Foote as its new CEO, succeeding founder James Cato. Brian Foote is a games industry veteran with senior experience at Amazon, Team17, and Microsoft, as well as a key role in Sony Interactive Entertainment's By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
© Aerosoft Business Aerosoft Announces FS Conference Date After last year's success, Aerosoft has revealed further details about the next FS Conference, the largest event for flight simulation fans in Germany. The 20th FS Conference will now take place in mid-November. Flight sim enthusiasts should mark 15 November 2025 in their calendars. On that date, the By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Maria Wagner, Managing Director Sustainable Games Alliance. and Jasmin Oestreicher, CEO of Instinct 3 (form left) © GM Business Instinct3 Joins Sustainable Games Alliance Instinct3 has become the first German company to join the Sustainable Games Alliance (SGA), according to its own statement. For the influencer marketing agency—now also operating as a game publisher—joining the alliance marks an important step toward making its business more sustainable, even though it is not yet By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
© Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur Campus GamesTalents Launches Application Phase With New Website School students between the ages of 13 and 16 from all types of schools can apply for the nationwide GamesTalente competition organised by Bildung & Begabung and the Stiftunhg Digitale Spielekultur until the beginning of April. The competition is supported by the Mercedes Benz Fonds. To mark the start of By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Tim Krause-Murroni © Tim Krause Business Tim Krause-Murroni Joins 2nd Wave After more than five years with Webedia’s artist management team, Tim Krause-Murroni has joined 2nd Wave as Director of Operations. He assumed his new role on 1 February, where he will support agency founder and CEO Boris Lehfeld in managing day-to-day operations. With his extensive experience in artist management By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
