Federal Minister Dorothee Bär Announces Comeback of Games Department at DCP

In her first speech to the industry as the new minister responsible for games, Dorothee Bär delivered with wit, charm, and great news: she will revive a dedicated games department in her ministry, which had been abolished by former Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck.

It was one of the highlights of the evening: Dorothee Bär gave the laudatory speech for this years Game of the Year award  at the close of the Deutscher Computerspielpreis (DCP; German Computer Game Award) and celebrated a successful comeback as the politician responsible for games on the national stage. She even countered a jab at Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder by the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, with a charming and witty fake telephone interlude, before proving with a well-judged dose of self-irony that political speeches at the DCP don’t have to be long or boring.

Dorothee Bär certainly made it clear that she feels at home in the industry and at the DCP. And anyone who has been involved for some time know, that her contributions to the award, games funding, and the industry as a whole are considerable.

This, in turn, gives hope for the future and for plans surrounding a tax-based games funding model in Germany. Of course, Bär was not yet able to announce this after just a few days in office, but she used the DCP stage to make another important statement: an dedicated games department is to be re-established within her ministry. Such a ministerial department was originally introduced in 2021 in the former Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. It later moved to the former Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, which assumed responsibility for games, but was dissolved in mid-2024.

Bär also also raised a smile with the (not entirely serious) suggestion that her ministry, officially abbreviated as BMFTR – Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt or Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space – , could have another letter added to it: a G, of course, for games.

Never miss anything from the German, Swiss and Austrian games industry again: subscribe for free to our Daily newsletter and get all news straight to your inbox.