Following yesterday’s big announcement at Microsoft, the focus today is on Europe, where Nintendo is withdrawing the Switch from the market in line with EU battery regulations, Atari is appointing a European head, and a small but significant event called gamescom is set to take place very soon.
Münster isn’t exactly the center of the German games industry, dear readers,
although one could jest it is at least in spitting distance to it, with its proximity to the Rhine-Ruhr area with Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne. But with the emergence of Atari Europe and its new president Andreas Deptolla there, we could see an interesting new communal player on the map. Historically, cities with strong Gaming companies have often become interested in the topic by way of osmosis, and well, lucrative tax opportunities. The region could be primed for that as well. Münster has an esports association, and the University of Münster even has a VR and Game Lab. We’ll see if Atari Europe will put Münster on the map – figuratively, of course. Maybe even this gamescom already? I can only recommend you read our interview with Deptolla to find out more.
By the way, as a little German language service: Don’t anglicize Münster as Munster – that is an altogether different city in another German state, and incidentally one of the biggest locations of the German Bundeswehr.
Here are the news of the day!
Your Pascal Wagner
In our interview with the new Atari Europe President Andreas Deptolla, we spoke to him about Münster a a European headquarters for Atari, the co-dev pipeline within Atari, and reconnecting with European gamers.
(Read more...)
by Marcel Kleffmann
Atari Appoints Andreas Deptolla as President for Europe and Expands Its European HQ in Münster
From emergency contacts to party guides, tips for traveling in Cologne and information for trade visitors and exhibitors: Learn everything there is to know about being at gamescom on our big service portal.
In preparation for the EU Battery Regulation, Nintendo will replace the Switch 2 and other products with new models. The Switch 1 in all variants as well as some special controllers however will be discontinued, since they will not receive exchangable battery models.
(Read more...)
by Pascal Wagner
Subscribers to GamesMarkt have access to our extensive archive of GM+ content, including articles, interviews and background articles, as well as electronic versions of our print editions. Here are three examples from the archive:
Sunrise Village is still online thanks to the use of AI. Thomas Lehr, Director of Game Engineering at InnoGames, talks about the reactions to the Sunrise Village case, when and how the use of AI can be effective and why InnoGames uses AI to drive growth but not for cost savings.
(Read more...)
by Stephan Steininger
French consumer association Que Choisir Ensemble sees Sony's decision to stop making physical games possible on PlayStation as a net negative for consumers: Less choice, no second-hand market, no longterm playability are the consequence, says Digital Policy Officer Frithjof Michaelsen.
(Read more...)
by Pascal Wagner
For the second time, 100 carefully selected heads of indie studios have met in Hamburg as part of the Portside Game Assembly for an open exchange in a safe environment. The organisers from Gamecity Hamburg are pleased with the outcome and have announced the date for 2027.
(Read more...)
IO Interactive has secured the IP for their Project Fantasy and will finish it independently. However, the loss of their publishing partner means they are closing down their Istanbul office, only established in 2023.
(Read more...)
The Dutch Games Association has confirmed the Netherlands Pavilion at gamescom 2026 business area. 24 companies and institutions from the Netherlands will exhibit there.
(Read more...)
Future and Reality of Gaming is leaning ever closer to the games industry this year: The game studies conference, held at Belvedere Museum in Vienna under new organisers, takes place from 20-22 November and welcomes talk submissions for the topic Playing Art until 15 September.
(Read more...)
Pearl Abyss will cooperate with Samsung to bring Crimson Desert to the gamescom entertainment area on modern hardware this year. The developer will also hold two talks at gamescom dev.
(Read more...)
Pascal Wagner
06.07. - 23.08.2026: Esports World Cup (Paris)
10.07.2026: Gamestate Festival BW (Karlsruhe)
14.07. - 16.07.2026: Develop (Brighton)
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