GamesMarket Daily – 29. June 26: Nico Balletta, ESBD's New VPs, Funding, Brandmania, GIC Sprint, Endix, GermanDevDays
Starting this week, our daily email newsletter including our commentary on current issues will be published to the GamesMarket website as well for accessibility and archival purposes. This time, we remark on the name change of CD Projekt Red SA.
and I'm sure the rebranding of CD Projekt SA into the CD Projekt Red SA is an attempt to do so, in a way. In terms of PR, it's a smart move, because what people see and love from the company family is the work of development studio daughter CD Projekt Red, not the financials of company mother CD Projekt. The other side of the medaillon is that now, everything the company structure does or decides will be much more likely to be attributed to the developer, even when it's possibly not related to them. That could be in the case of changes regarding GOG, for example, which is a sister to CD Projekt Red (the studio), and a daughter of CD Projekt Red (the umbrella company). See where the confusion comes in?
On the other hand, there was already confusion embedded in CDPR's structure anyway. How many consumers – and let's be totally honest, games industry people who do not happen to be analysts – know that CD Projekt was not just a shorter way to refer to CD Projekt Red, the Witcher studio we know and love? So maybe the most clever solution to this problem has always been what Focus mother PulluP did in renaming itself into something completely different.
Here are the news of the day!
Your Pascal Wagner
About Tough Decisions and Great Joy Putting Together the Gamescom Dev Sessions
The countdown to gamescom and to gamescom dev is on. The first speakers have been announced. In this interview, Head of Programme Nico Balletta reveals how the session list is put together, how he ensures a good balance, and why he believes it is essential to give young talents a stage. (Read more...)
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:
ESBD Members Elects New VPs And Create New Role For Regional Representatives
At their general meeting, the members of the ESBD filled three vice-presidential posts with Klemens Witt, Christian Hotz and Markus Möckel. Florian von Keller was also appointed as a vice-president; he will be the first representative of the regional associations on the ESBD Executive Committee. (Read more...)
by Stephan Steininger
Endix Spring 2026 Reaches 10,000 Downloads
The playable game showcase Endix has reached 10,000 downloads and 2.1 mil impressions on Steam with its Spring edition. (Read more...)
by Pascal Wagner
More News of the Day...
Aesir Partner NightinGames Receives Federal Funding For Its Own Project
With nearly 150,000 euros in funding from the federal government, the Bayreuth-based indie team NightinGames can now work on the Exsomnis: Fires of Vesuvius project. Shortly before this, the serious games studio ProLog had also been awarded a grant of over 800,000 euros. (Read more...)
CD Projekt, Mother of CD Projekt Red, Rebrands to CD Projekt Red
The mother firm of developer CD Projekt Red, the CD Projekt S.A., has now rebranded to CD Projekt Red S.A., to align the brand to better "correspond to the Company’s core business activities". (Read more...)
+++ Jobs +++ Jobs +++ Jobs +++ Jobs +++ Jobs +++ Jobs +++
Founder Valerio Di Donato Buys Italian Developer 34BigThings Back From Plaion
34BigThings is independent once again. The Italian studio announced that the company’s founder Valerio Di Donato had already bought back 100 of the shares from Plaion in April. A major project based on a well-known IP is set to be announced later this year. Further games are in development. (Read more...)
Brandmania 2026 Sees 1,000 Participants
The second Brandmania sees 1,000 attendants in Essen. Last year, Brandmate had rebranded into the new identity. (Read more...)
GermanDevDays Extend Ticket Registration
Submissions for the GermanDevDays in July have been extended until 11 July. The event takes place on 22-23 July. (Read more...)
GIC Sprint Attracts 1,000 Visitors on Its Debut And Will Come Back in May 2027
For the first time, the organisers of the GIC in Poznań have held a second GIC conference this year and are pleased with the result. 1,000 visitors came to Katowice for the GIC Sprint, which is set to take place again in 2027, though this time in early May. (Read more...)