The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection is to abolish the independent Games Department. The unit will be integrated into the new department "Cultural and Creative Industries; Games". The game Association has strongly criticised this decision.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) has decided to dissolve the previously independent Games Department aka "Games-Referat" and integrate it into the Department for Cultural and Creative Industries. As a result of the integration, the new department will be called "Cultural and Creative Industries; Games" - in German: "Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft; Games". Although existing projects such as the Games Funding or the German Computer Game Award (DCP) will continue, a lack of independence could make it difficult to act on games projects in the future - especially as funding has been suspended since May 2023 and both the new funding guidelines and a solution for the additional 33 million Euros in the budget of the State Secretary for Culture are still outstanding. Film, music and literature will continue to have their own department in the federal government, but games will no longer.

This has been strongly criticised by game - the German Games Industry Association. "The decision by the Federal Ministry of Economics to dissolve the independent Games Department and integrate it into the Department for Cultural and Creative Industries is completely incomprehensible. It contradicts the clear statements of the Ampel coalition and the responsible minister that they want to strengthen Germany as a games location. It is imperative that the relevance of games is recognised and that the economic and cultural potential of the games industry and its technologies is used for Germany, as described in the government's own games strategy. Instead, the government risks being accused of returning to the days when games were systematically disadvantaged compared to other forms of culture. Whether it's film, music or literature - each of these areas has its own department in the federal government, and rightly so, because it's important to address the specific needs of each industry. To deny this to games, the largest and most dynamic media and cultural sector, is a devastating signal," criticises game Managing Director Felix Falk.

He continues: "The Games Department should become independent again as soon as possible. There are too many tasks that need to be dealt with urgently. These include the allocation of the additional 33 million Euros in funding for 2024 that games companies are still waiting for, the implementation of tax incentives and the long-term competitive positioning of all German games policy measures. As our mid-term review also shows, the Federal Government still has a lot of work to do to catch up with other locations. This can't be done in reverse gear."

With the 2021 federal budget, the German Bundestag made staff positions available to enable the establishment of a Games Unit in the former Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. This made it possible to ensure that all policy issues relating to games could be dealt with from a single source and that expertise and contacts would be retained in the event of the frequent changes of ministry that the topic has experienced in the past (BMI, BKM, BMVD, BK, BMVD, BMWK), as a ministry can move with a ministerial reorganisation. At the same time, games have been put on an equal footing with other areas that have their own department in the federal government, such as music, literature, film, visual arts, theatre, microelectronics, bio-economy, AI and many more.

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Written by

Marcel Kleffmann
Marcel Kleffmann