German Games Market Back on Track for Growth

During the gamescom pre-show press conference, the game association also released initial data on the development of the German games market in the first half of 2025. With an increase of 4 percent, the market continued to grow.

The German games market is back on track for growth. This is evident from the half-year figures published by the game association at its pre-gamescom press conference. The sources of this data are the market research firm YouGov and data.ai (a Sensor Tower company).

After declining in the previous year and in the first half of the previous year, sales of games, consoles and online services rose again by 4 percent year-on-year to 4.556 billion euros. The most important growth driver was the hardware segment, particularly the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. However, other consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S also continued to sell well, in some cases better than in the previous year. In figures, the hardware segment contributed €1.235 billion in sales.

Revenue in the online services segment also rose slightly. Here, game reported revenue of €621 million in the first half of 2025. Sales of game software, on the other hand, declined slightly again and now account for only €2.701 billion of revenue.

"The German games market's growth in the first six months of 2025 sends a powerful signal for the start of gamescom," says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game - The German Games Industry Association, which is a co-organiser of gamescom. "This year’s event has also set a new record for the number of exhibitors. Combined with the increase in exhibition space and the many top companies expected to attend this year's event, gamescom is set to drive even more growth in the German and international games market. This year’s theme - 'Games - perfect entertainment' - is fully in keeping with this boost, as 44 million Germans view games as the entertainment of our age. And not just for themselves: the vast majority of video game players believe that games are particularly good for bringing people of all ages together. It is yet another way that gamescom will be the perfect place to be."

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