Hamburg and NRW Did Not Bid for the Deutscher Computerspielpreis

It has been clear since the beginning of the week that Berlin has been chosen to host the DCP 2025. It is unclear how many German states had expressed an interest. Certainly not NRW and Hamburg. The process has also been criticised.

Since its inception in 2009, the Deutscher Computerspielpreis (DCP; German Computer Game Award) has alternated between Berlin and Munich. However, this rotation no longer seems to be so fixed. Apparently, the venue for 2025 was announced this year via an expression of interest process. GamesMarkt was not aware of this competition in advance, and the bidding process also seems to have taken place on a purely political level, rather than in cooperation with the industry public.

As we wrote on Monday, it was no big surprise that Berlin won the bid for 2025. It would have been Berlin's turn anyway. What is new, however, is the strong hope of Berlin politicians and the co-organising location promoter, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, that the award show will remain in Berlin in the future.

GamesMarkt therefore asked some of Germany's most important gaming locations and received some surprising answers. For example, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg, the two states that were overlooked for the DCP from the outset, did not apply for the DCP despite their importance as gaming locations. The reasons for this seem to be different.

A spokesperson for the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media and Head of the State Chancellery, Nathanael Liminski, told GamesMarkt that the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis (German Game Developer Award) is firmly established in NRW: "North Rhine-Westphalia has been the venue for the oldest award for computer and video games in the German-speaking world right from the start: The Deutscher Entwicklerpreis has been presented annually in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2004 and as the "Christmas party of the industry" is a fixed and unalterable date in the Advent calendar of the German computer games industry. The state government is proud that this special award, which primarily honours creative people, has a firm place in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state government and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW support the organisation of the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis and look forward to welcoming the industry once again to Cologne on 3 December. Against this backdrop, the state government has not considered additional participation in the expression of interest process for the DCP."

Hamburg, on the other hand, criticised the procedure: "Hamburg did not apply because bidding competitions are generally viewed critically. A bidding competition between the federal states for the computer games award is neither effective nor helpful for the industry," reads a statement from the Hanseatic city to GamesMarkt. And Hamburg is not averse to changing venues. "There are many strong locations for games in Germany. This is one of Germany's advantages, and the German Computer Games Award is an opportunity to make this visible in the future. A regular change of location for the DCP is a real added value."

So it seems that the last word on DCP has not yet been spoken.