Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director for Country Health Policies and Systems, WHO Regional Office for Europe, and Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. © IMAGO / CTK Photo/Michal Krumphanzl Business European Teenager Spend too Much Time on Social Media and Playing Games The WHO has issued an alarming report on the problematic use of social media and digital games by young people in Europe. Although the trend appears to be true, the incomplete data basis for the gaming statements does not make them universally valid. The European office of the World Health By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
Eva Stemmer, Managing Director of Brandmate, and Christian Ulrich, also Managing Director of Brandmate and Spokesman of the Board of Spielwarenmesse eG © BRANDmate GmbH / Foto: Christof Kreutzer Business Brandmate Will Take Place in a New Location in Essen in 2025 Next year, Brandmate will take place for the fourth time, but no longer in Frankfurt. The brand festival is moving from Frankfurt to the Grand Hall of the Kokerei at the disused Zeche Zollverein in Essen. New location, new event – the organisers have now revealed the first details of Brandmate By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Kicki Wallje-Lund and Brian Ward © Embracer/Savvy Games Business Brian Ward Elected as Director and Kicki Wallje-Lund Confirmed as Chairwoman There were no major surprises in terms of personnel at the Embracer Group's 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Board of Directors was reduced to seven members as planned. The reduction by one position had been proposed by the Nomination Committee and was expected at the AGM. As By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Team Falcon was named the first Esports World Cup Club Champion at the first Esports World Cup © Esports World Cup Foundation/EWC 2024 Business Spobis Analyses Sponsorship Spending for Esports World Cup Spobis, a German media company specialising in the sports business, has analysed the sponsorships of the Esports World Cup (EWC) and presents the approximate sums that the partners paid for the sponsorship rights. Since official information on the EWC's total revenue is not available, it is difficult to By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
The products in the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection © Sony Interactive Entertainment Publishing Sony Celebrates PlayStation Anniversary with Limited Special Edition PS5 On 21 November, Sony Interactive Entertainment will release a limited special edition of current PlayStation products. The occasion is the 30th anniversary of the brand. Pre-orders start in September. The design of the so-called PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection is reminiscent of the early days of the console brand. It was By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Helge Jürgens, Nandita Wegehaupt and Fernanda Pagani (From Left to Right) © Friederike Werner / Die Hoffotografen / Fernanda Pagani Business Berlin Games Ground to Host AI Conference as a Side Event The Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur (Digital Game Culture Foundation) is organising a conference together with Games Ground on the topic of AI, which will not only focus on the use of AI in game development, but also on AI utopias and dystopias in games. The conference is supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
© Yager Publishing Yager Pays Tribute to Its Shut-Down Shooter in Fortnite Berlin-based Yager is launching its own Fortnite island, intended as a tribute to ‘The Cycle: Frontier’. However, a comeback of the now-discontinued shooter does not seem entirely out of the question. A year ago, the Berlin-based developer Yager Development shut down the online shooter The Cycle: Frontier after the number By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Cam Weber President EA Sports, Laura Miele, President EA Entertainment & Technology, Andrew Wilson, CEO Electronic Arts, Byron Beed, Group General Manager Battlefield (from left to right) © Screenshot EA Webcast of Investor Day 2024 Business How Electronic Arts Plans to Lead the Market With Its Major Brands At Investor Day, Electronic Arts provided an interesting insight into how the major sees its future. In addition to a lot of news about doubling the audience, the use of AI, a Sims movie or the setting of Battlefield, the information between the lines was particularly exciting: the EA brands By Stephan Steininger • 4 min read
Susanne Mitterer (Deputy Head of the Competence Team for Cultural and Creative Industries, Munich), Astrid Kahmke (CEO Ionda/Director The Portal), Anton Biebl (Head of the City of Munich Cultural Office) Silke Schmidt (Head of XR HUB Bayern), Max Permantier (FilmFernsehFonds Bayern; from left to right) © LHM/Michael Schinharl VR-XR-MR Special Exhibition 'The Portal' Opened in Munich City Hall The VR exhibition 'The Portal' will be held in seven currently vacant retail spaces in Munich City Hall until the end of December. 360-degree films and interactive VR apps that have debuted at international festivals will be shown. The interim use is being facilitated and promoted by the By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
The marketplace Fab.com is scheduled to launch in mid-October. © Screenshop Unreal Engine Blog Development Epic Games Launches Fab Marketplace in Mid-October At GDC 2023, Epic Games announced that it would be merging all of its asset stores under one brand: Fab. A year ago, the launch of Fab was delayed. Now, the marketplace is scheduled to launch in mid-October. It was an ambitious project that was supposed to make it much By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
© Screenshot VGFB Business VGFB Supports VGE Arguments With Own Survey The Belgian Games Federation is using the results of its own survey to support the arguments of the VGE and EGDF in response to complaints from consumer protection organisations against in-game purchase mechanisms of some publishers. The results show that Belgian parents are aware of the spending of their children. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
© SWR Publishing SWR Launches Audio Game App Pale Blue Südwestrundfunk (SWR) continues to be open to the medium of games. The new podcast project 'Hellblau' is accompanied by an audio game app developed in cooperation with Pangolin Park. The topic of the podcast and audio game is the multicrisis. Hellblau - Der 5 Minuten Padcast zur Multikrise By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
