Indie Outpost Fills Nuremberg Venue, Speakers Honour Pixel Maniacs Pascal Wagner May 07, 2024 – 3 min read Share this post Fully loaded: The top floor of the KunstKulturQuartier in Nuremberg was completely packed with a game dev audience. © GamesMarkt/Pascal Wagner Dirk Ringe, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Envision Entertainment Business Dirk Ringe: "We Are Proud to Have a Large German Player Base, Which Is No Surprise Considering Our Roots." Today is the day that Pioneers of Pagonia leaves Early Access after two years. We spoke to Dirk Ringe, CEO and co-founder of Envision Entertainment, about their experiences with Early Access, the growing competition in the market and Germany's position as a games location. By Marcel Kleffmann • 8 min read Business Global Game Jam and Games for Change Expand Collaboration With two new initiatives, Global Game Jam (GGJ) and Games for Change (G4C) are intensifying their existing partnership to specifically support young talent in game development. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read Katsuhiro Harada, General Manager of the BNS Original IP games projects, worked on Tekken for the past 31 years © Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons People Katsuhiro Harada Is Leaving Bandai Namco He was the personal and public figurehead of the Tekken series like no other. Katsuhiro Harada (General Manager of the BNS Original IP games projects) has now announced that he will be leaving Bandai Namco Entertainment after 31 years. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read Business The Rise of "Friendslop": Why Low-Fidelity Social Chaos is Shaking Up the Games Industry In 'Zoran's Update', experienced games manager Zoran Roso comments on current industry topics on LinkedIn, speaking from the heart for many in the industry. GamesMarkt is now republishing the update with Zoran's consent. This time's topic: The Rise of 'Friendslop'. By Zoran Roso • 6 min read John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, which will be released on March 12, 2026, is the first game that Plaion will distribute physically worldwide under the new contract for Focus Business Plaion and Focus Entertainment Expand Partnership With New Distribution Agreement Austrian distributor Plaion is further expanding its partnership with French publisher Focus Entertainment. Thanks to a new contract, Plaion will take over worldwide physical distribution of Focus' new releases, starting with John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read The crew of Games/Bavaria accepting the check for the first batch of money for 2026 from Digital Minister Fabian Mehring (holding the check) (StMD) Bavaria Doubles Games Funding in 2026 At the Christmas party of Games/Bavaria, Digital Minister Mehring confirmed that the funding for games, esports and XR will double to the target amount of more than 9 million euros in 2026. Minimum 5 million of that will go directly to studios. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Swept the Board at the Game Awards 2025 © TGA Business The Game Awards 2025 -The Winners Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the most nominated game in TGA history, receiving a total of nine awards. This game by Sandfall and Kepler Interactive was the big winner of the evening. By Marcel Kleffmann • 5 min read Don't Scream Together © Digital Cybercherries How Don't Scream Together Recovered From Its Disastrous Launch The co-op multiplayer horror game Don't Scream Together from Digital Cybercherries didn't have the best launch on Steam. Technical issues with a key feature led to negative user reviews on Steam. However, the developers managed to turn things around by communicating openly and honestly. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read The Lonesome Guild © Tiny Bull Studios and Don't Nod Products The Lonesome Guild Relationships lie at the heart of The Lonesome Guild. This charming action RPG from Tiny Bull Studios and published by Don't Nod is all about loneliness - and fighting it together. By Marcel Kleffmann • 4 min read
Dirk Ringe, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder, Envision Entertainment Business Dirk Ringe: "We Are Proud to Have a Large German Player Base, Which Is No Surprise Considering Our Roots." Today is the day that Pioneers of Pagonia leaves Early Access after two years. We spoke to Dirk Ringe, CEO and co-founder of Envision Entertainment, about their experiences with Early Access, the growing competition in the market and Germany's position as a games location. By Marcel Kleffmann • 8 min read
Business Global Game Jam and Games for Change Expand Collaboration With two new initiatives, Global Game Jam (GGJ) and Games for Change (G4C) are intensifying their existing partnership to specifically support young talent in game development. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Katsuhiro Harada, General Manager of the BNS Original IP games projects, worked on Tekken for the past 31 years © Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons People Katsuhiro Harada Is Leaving Bandai Namco He was the personal and public figurehead of the Tekken series like no other. Katsuhiro Harada (General Manager of the BNS Original IP games projects) has now announced that he will be leaving Bandai Namco Entertainment after 31 years. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Business The Rise of "Friendslop": Why Low-Fidelity Social Chaos is Shaking Up the Games Industry In 'Zoran's Update', experienced games manager Zoran Roso comments on current industry topics on LinkedIn, speaking from the heart for many in the industry. GamesMarkt is now republishing the update with Zoran's consent. This time's topic: The Rise of 'Friendslop'. By Zoran Roso • 6 min read
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, which will be released on March 12, 2026, is the first game that Plaion will distribute physically worldwide under the new contract for Focus Business Plaion and Focus Entertainment Expand Partnership With New Distribution Agreement Austrian distributor Plaion is further expanding its partnership with French publisher Focus Entertainment. Thanks to a new contract, Plaion will take over worldwide physical distribution of Focus' new releases, starting with John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
The crew of Games/Bavaria accepting the check for the first batch of money for 2026 from Digital Minister Fabian Mehring (holding the check) (StMD) Bavaria Doubles Games Funding in 2026 At the Christmas party of Games/Bavaria, Digital Minister Mehring confirmed that the funding for games, esports and XR will double to the target amount of more than 9 million euros in 2026. Minimum 5 million of that will go directly to studios. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Swept the Board at the Game Awards 2025 © TGA Business The Game Awards 2025 -The Winners Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the most nominated game in TGA history, receiving a total of nine awards. This game by Sandfall and Kepler Interactive was the big winner of the evening. By Marcel Kleffmann • 5 min read
Don't Scream Together © Digital Cybercherries How Don't Scream Together Recovered From Its Disastrous Launch The co-op multiplayer horror game Don't Scream Together from Digital Cybercherries didn't have the best launch on Steam. Technical issues with a key feature led to negative user reviews on Steam. However, the developers managed to turn things around by communicating openly and honestly. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
The Lonesome Guild © Tiny Bull Studios and Don't Nod Products The Lonesome Guild Relationships lie at the heart of The Lonesome Guild. This charming action RPG from Tiny Bull Studios and published by Don't Nod is all about loneliness - and fighting it together. By Marcel Kleffmann • 4 min read