A successful games event in Essen shaped by digital transformation, strategic moves in esports in Cologne and a surprising personnel change at Microsoft – today’s news shows that change is part of everyday life in the industry.
The rumour mill is in full swing, dear readers,
following Helen Chiang’s departure from Microsoft just a few months after her appointment as the most powerful COO in Xbox’s history. After all, Chiang was an experienced, long-serving and highly regarded manager at Microsoft. There could be many reasons for her surprising departure, as the numerous speculations circulating on social media over the past few days have highlighted. Most people, however, assume that, despite the cuts that have already been made, further changes are on the horizon at Xbox – changes that Chiang is unwilling to support in their current form. Whether that is true remains to be seen. One thing is certain, though: there will be no return to calm in Microsoft’s games division just yet.
Here are the news of the day!
Your Stephan Steininger
The German Esports Summit 2026 brought together representatives from the worlds of esports, politics, business, education, and industry associations at the Xperion in Cologne. During the event, the inaugural German Esports Award was presented.
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by Marcel Kleffmann
Another studio has been awarded funding by the German Federal Government's Video Game Funding Programme. This funding is supporting SkySpirit, based in Stuttgart.
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by Marcel Kleffmann
Board and card games are the epitome of the analogue world – and yet they face the very same issues that preoccupy their digital counterparts. At Spiel 2026 in Essen, we asked people from the industry for their views on AI and its convergence with video games.
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by Melanie Döring
After just a few months as COO of Xbox at Microsoft, Helen Chiang is leaving the company. This was reported by The Verge, citing an internal message from Xbox head Asha Sharma.
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Over 200 indie studios are joining forces for the Indie Treasures Sale on Steam, led by Berlin-based indie studio Toukana Interactive. The aim is to showcase the independent games industry and give smaller games more visibility, just ahead of the release of GTA VI.
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At the inaugural TCG Awards at Spiel Essen, Star Wars: Unlimited won the most prizes while the big three TCGs went home empty-handed. Honoured for their engagement were Women+ in Magic, creator Pleasant Kenobi and the Mulligan TCG Shop from Hamburg.
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After the trade fair comes the party: the MAG-C community trade fair is once again organising an evening programme on the first day of the event in 2027. Nerds at Rave is once again in charge of the music and entertainment programme.
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GameRecruit has launched ‘Next’, another tool aimed at schools, training organisations and relevant professional bodies, which can use it to help young people with career guidance using playful tasks.
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Madeleine Egger
29.10. - 01.11.2026: gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show (Bangkok)
03.11. - 04.11.2026: GodotFest (Munich)
03.11. - 04.11.2026: Game Research Days (Jyväskylä)
04.11.2026: Online Service Summit (Stockholm)
05.11. - 08.11.2026: Games Ground (Berlin)
07.11. - 08.11.2026: AdventureX (London)
10.11. - 11.11.2026: MIGS - Montréal International Game Summit (Montréal) 04.11.2026: Invest in Games (Stockholm)
12.11. - 13.11.2026: The Games Forum Roma (Roma)
14.11. - 22.11.2026: Dutch Games Week (Breda)
17.11. - 18.11.2026: DevGamm Lisbon (Lisbon)
18.11.2026: DevGamm Awards (Lisbon)
18.11. - 21.11.2026: Play26 Festival (Hamburg)
21.11.2026: Card Galaxy Europe (Heidelberg)
21.11. - 22.11.2026: VIECC - Vienna Comic Con (Vienna)
26.11.2026: The Pre-Show (London)
27.11. - 29.11.2026: Milan Games Week (Milan)
28.11. - 29.11.2026: Be A Hero Gaming Zone at CCON | Comic Con Stuttgart (Stuttgart)
Find more events in our GamesMarket calendar.
