Restart of Federal Game Funding with Restrictions and Reservations

Immediately after Christmas, the German government surprised the games industry by restarting federal funding, albeit under less favorable conditions. The absence of a 2025 budget means uncertainty looms over how much funding will be available for larger projects and when it might run out again.

While questions remain, the restart of federal games funding is a positive signal and a Christmas gift for the German games industry. On December 27, the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK; Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action) unexpectedly published new funding guidelines for games, as approved by the EU Commission, alongside a call for applications effective December 30. This formally ends a 20-month freeze on funding applications.

However, despite the promising news, the restart comes with significant challenges. One major issue lies in the revised funding guidelines. Long-standing criticism from the industry and federal states has been ignored: federal funding cannot be combined with state-level funding. Additionally, projects must have a minimum budget of €300,000 to qualify, effectively excluding smaller indie productions. These and other points have been repeatedly criticized in the past.

The latest call for funding introduces further restrictions. A maximum grant of €2 million per project has been set, and additional constraints have been added regarding the source of funding. Projects with budgets up to €900,000 will be funded from the Bundeskulturstaatsministerin (BKM; Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media) budget, while those exceeding that amount will be financed by the BMWK.

Herein lies another issue: while the BKM’s budget for the games funding is clearly defined at just under €18 million, the actual funding available through the BMWK remains uncertain due to the unresolved federal budget for 2025. Although applications can be submitted immediately, no one knows when the allocated funds will be exhausted, potentially leading to another halt in funding.

game - The German Games Industry Association expressed mixed feelings in an initial statement issued after Christmas. “After the end of the Ampel coalition, the continuation of federal games funding at the beginning of 2025 cannot be taken for granted. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this outcome. After a 20-month application freeze, many companies are eager to launch new projects without facing Germany's significant cost disadvantages. Unfortunately, however, the funding conditions are severely restricted,” says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game.

The association hopes for a swift resolution to these limitations, particularly the budget constraints that hinder long-term projects. Above all, the association hopes that things will move quickly after the elections: “The election programs show that the funding problems are not really wanted politically. The next federal government must therefore implement a more sustainable funding concept. Above all, it needs additional tax incentives for games, which the traffic light coalition has already announced and which is also being demanded by more and more federal states,” says Falk.