Number of Gaming Studios, Publisher and Employees in Germany Declines

After years of growth, the number of companies in the core gaming sector has fallen. The number of employees is also declining. The industry association game sees a connection with the now lifted funding freeze.

For years, the German games industry has been growing in one direction only: upwards. This applies to both the number of companies in the core games market and the number of employees. Since 2020, both KPIs have risen continuously.

The data is collected by the industry association game on the basis of the Gamesmap in collaboration with market researchers from Goldmedia. But the growth has come to a halt. In 2025, the association and Goldmedia will only record 910 companies developing and/or publishing games in Germany. This means that this core market has fallen back to the level of 2023. The number of employees has also decreased by almost 300 to 12,134.

"Last year was another very difficult one for the German games industry," says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game. "Germany's international competitiveness was further decreased by the ongoing flip-flopping of the games funding policy, which ran right into the consolidation wave that swept the global games sector. Fortunately, the new federal government has already taken the necessary steps to level the playing field for companies in this country. The future funding budget is to be increased and thus adjusted to actual needs, and applications can be submitted from August onwards. These are crucial growth impulses that are urgently needed. The additional funds will not only give companies more planning security, but also time to implement additional tax breaks for games, as set out in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD. The improved conditions will finally give games companies a boost, which will hopefully soon be reflected in more start-ups and the creation of new jobs."

It is not surprising that the association sees a direct link to the funding. The boom in new start-ups in 2020 was also due to the launch of federal funding. Given the generally difficult financing situation, young game studios in particular are dependent on support from the federal and state governments to get started.

Game did not give any specific figures for the number of employees in the so-called extended market, which also includes service providers, media and other areas. However, game says that the games industry secures over 30,000 jobs in Germany. Subscribers of GM+ can find additional information like the biggest game companies in Germany (GM+).

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