Tax Incentives for Games Industry Sealed in Coalition Pact

In Berlin, the CDU/CSU and SPD are currently presenting the final draft of their coalition agreement for the upcoming government. It contains passages on games funding that make a tax-based model likely. The German association game sees "key issues addressed".

Will the German games industry get a tax-based funding model during the next government's term? The probability is increasing, because the future governing parties have written corresponding passages into their final coalition agreement. However, this has yet to be voted on.

They are only a few sentences, but they give the games industry hope. As in the first draft, the final draft of the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD states, among other things, that "the gaming industry has great cultural, economic and technological potential. With spillover effects, it ensures progress and innovation. That is why we want to strengthen the international competitiveness of our games location by making it easier to plan and tailor the funding system." And further on in the text, it says: "Games are a cultural asset and a driver of innovation, which is why we want to promote the games industry through tax incentives and reliable programmes."

In view of these passages, a tax-based funding model for games is becoming increasingly likely. In any case, the party leaders made it clear several times during the presentation of the contract that they want to support investments above all. And the tax-based model is also aimed in this direction.

The game also welcomed the coalition agreement in an initial statement. "We are grateful for the very strong statements by the future governing parties on games. The new coalition is thus taking the right steps for more growth and innovation in Germany. In particular, the announced additional tax incentives for games will provide much-needed competitiveness. As an industry, we have presented a concrete funding concept for this. Now the new federal government needs to implement it quickly: a strong position for games in the federal government, the introduction of the new funding concept and the recognition of the non-profit status of esports," said Managing Director Felix Falk.

However, the association also points out that the new federal government has yet to decide where the topic of games will be located. Most recently, the topic was the responsibility of the economics ministry. However, the independent games department there was abolished.

The topic of esports is also mentioned. The contract states: "We recognise the non-profit status of esports."

It remains to be seen whether everything in the contract will ultimately be implemented. First of all, the relevant committees and, in the case of the SPD, the members must agree to the contract. Then the contract will be the basis for the government's work in the coming years. However, there is no guarantee that all the agreed topics will actually be implemented. For example, the coalition government had also put the recognition of the non-profit status of e-sports on the to-do list. However, differences of opinion arose during the implementation process that could not be resolved by the end of the coalition.

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