The Situation in the EU: Overbearing Bureaucracy With Deep Pockets Stephan Steininger April 11, 2025 – 3 min read Share this post © European Union 2024/Dennis Lomme Business Narranauten Set up Registered Association In 2024, several narrative designers and game writers founded the Narranauten initiative, under which they organised events in Germany. They have now set up a registered association. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read Business Instinct3 And Drinks & More Expand the Knabe-Drinks Portfolio Ahead of Gamescom Instinct3, founded by creator HandsOfBlood, has announced the launch of KnabeMix – a cola-and-orange mixed drink – in collaboration with drinks partner Drinks & More. To mark the launch, the Twitch series “Techno Freitag” is making a comeback. A campaign featuring Sonya Kraus is also planned. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read Business The €27 Billion Danger Zone: How the EU's Digital Fairness Act Threatens to Disintegrate the F2P Monetization Stack In 'Zoran's Update', experienced games manager Zoran Roso comments on current industry topics on LinkedIn. This time, he is looking at the issue from an industry perspective to see what consequences the EU’s plans might have on the monetisation of free-to-play games. By Zoran Roso • 4 min read Mothkeep (Ivette Schmidt) Products Mothkeep Reaches 10K Wishlists Three weeks before release, moth documenting game Mothkeep by Munich solo dev Ivette Schmidt has reached 10,000 wishlists. By Pascal Wagner • Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa and Hazelight Studios founder Josef Fares | Picture: Caisa Rasmussen/UD Awards Sweden Honours Hazelight Studios With Government’s Export Award For CCI The Swedish Government has recognised the achievements of Stockholm-based Hazelight Studios as an export company. The studio behind A Way Out, It Takes Two and Split Fiction received the Government’s Export Award in the Cultural and Creative Industries category. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read Business Narranauten Set up Registered Association In 2024, several narrative designers and game writers founded the Narranauten initiative, under which they organised events in Germany. They have now set up a registered association. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read Anno 117: Pax Romana - Blooming Cities Pack © Ubisoft Products Ubisoft Releases Second CDLC for Anno 117 The second CDLC has been released for Anno 117: Pax Romana. The Blooming Cities Pack only includes cosmetic additions, while the team at Ubisoft Mainz continues to work on the next two DLCs for the game: The Hippodrome and Dawn of the Delta. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read Johanna Schmid (PwC); Prof. Dr. Mathias Bellinghausen (HAM), Julia Wilner (PwC), Christopher Flato (ESBD), Markus Möckel (ESBD), Lars Christian Dach (PwC) © ESBD Esports Second Esports Report on the German Esports Industry The E-Sport-Bund Deutschland (ESBD) has published its second report on the German esports industry. It focuses on the industry's self-image, structures and future as it undergoes transformation. The report was prepared in collaboration with the Hochschule für angewandtes Management and PwC Germany. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read New Markets as Future Goldmines © Xsolla GamesMarket Exclusive Azerbaijan as an Emerging Games Market Azerbaijan is one of the emerging markets in the games sector that doesn't receive much attention. This interview with Shahin Aliyev, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Box, and Anatoly Strutinsky, SVP of Government & Industry Relations, EMEA at Xsolla, offers a glimpse into this market. By Marcel Kleffmann • 6 min read
Business Narranauten Set up Registered Association In 2024, several narrative designers and game writers founded the Narranauten initiative, under which they organised events in Germany. They have now set up a registered association. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Business Instinct3 And Drinks & More Expand the Knabe-Drinks Portfolio Ahead of Gamescom Instinct3, founded by creator HandsOfBlood, has announced the launch of KnabeMix – a cola-and-orange mixed drink – in collaboration with drinks partner Drinks & More. To mark the launch, the Twitch series “Techno Freitag” is making a comeback. A campaign featuring Sonya Kraus is also planned. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
Business The €27 Billion Danger Zone: How the EU's Digital Fairness Act Threatens to Disintegrate the F2P Monetization Stack In 'Zoran's Update', experienced games manager Zoran Roso comments on current industry topics on LinkedIn. This time, he is looking at the issue from an industry perspective to see what consequences the EU’s plans might have on the monetisation of free-to-play games. By Zoran Roso • 4 min read
Mothkeep (Ivette Schmidt) Products Mothkeep Reaches 10K Wishlists Three weeks before release, moth documenting game Mothkeep by Munich solo dev Ivette Schmidt has reached 10,000 wishlists. By Pascal Wagner •
Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa and Hazelight Studios founder Josef Fares | Picture: Caisa Rasmussen/UD Awards Sweden Honours Hazelight Studios With Government’s Export Award For CCI The Swedish Government has recognised the achievements of Stockholm-based Hazelight Studios as an export company. The studio behind A Way Out, It Takes Two and Split Fiction received the Government’s Export Award in the Cultural and Creative Industries category. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Business Narranauten Set up Registered Association In 2024, several narrative designers and game writers founded the Narranauten initiative, under which they organised events in Germany. They have now set up a registered association. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Anno 117: Pax Romana - Blooming Cities Pack © Ubisoft Products Ubisoft Releases Second CDLC for Anno 117 The second CDLC has been released for Anno 117: Pax Romana. The Blooming Cities Pack only includes cosmetic additions, while the team at Ubisoft Mainz continues to work on the next two DLCs for the game: The Hippodrome and Dawn of the Delta. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Johanna Schmid (PwC); Prof. Dr. Mathias Bellinghausen (HAM), Julia Wilner (PwC), Christopher Flato (ESBD), Markus Möckel (ESBD), Lars Christian Dach (PwC) © ESBD Esports Second Esports Report on the German Esports Industry The E-Sport-Bund Deutschland (ESBD) has published its second report on the German esports industry. It focuses on the industry's self-image, structures and future as it undergoes transformation. The report was prepared in collaboration with the Hochschule für angewandtes Management and PwC Germany. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
New Markets as Future Goldmines © Xsolla GamesMarket Exclusive Azerbaijan as an Emerging Games Market Azerbaijan is one of the emerging markets in the games sector that doesn't receive much attention. This interview with Shahin Aliyev, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Box, and Anatoly Strutinsky, SVP of Government & Industry Relations, EMEA at Xsolla, offers a glimpse into this market. By Marcel Kleffmann • 6 min read
