Digital Minister Mehring Praises Bavarian "Creative Champions" and Appeals to the Federal Government

At the presentation of the funding certificates for the 13 games projects funded in Bavaria, Digital Minister Dr Fabian Mehring praised the Bavarian "creative champions" and appealed to the Federal Government regarding the current funding situation.

In March 2024, 13 new games projects received a total of 1,682,904 Euros in funding from the FFF Bayern. Digital Minister Mehring presented the funding certificates together with the FFF Bayern at the LfA Förderbank Bayern in Munich. At the event, the Minister emphasised the diversity of the industry. Mehring: "The architects of the digital worlds of the future come from all parts of Bavaria. This once again underlines the regional diversity and the enormous potential of our local games industry. Bavaria's developers are an important economic factor for the state and are at the forefront of shaping social change and digital transformation. They are creative drivers of innovation and therefore true pixel pioneers who are driving the digital revolution with their successful work."

Bavaria's Minister for Digital and Games, Dr Fabian Mehring, added: "We are creating the best conditions in Bavaria to put our studios in the fast lane. That's why we're giving Bavaria's creative champions maximum support in the current round of awards with a record sum of 1.7 million Euros. Our latest Bavarian successes, most recently with Pixel Maniacs being named "Studio of the Year" at the German Computer Game Awards, show that the turbo I ignited for the Bavarian games industry after taking office as Minister is paying off.

The 13 funded projects were announced back in March 2024 (GamesMarkt reported). At the time, Digital Minister Dr Fabian Mehring took the opportunity to call on the federal government to support the games industry in Germany.

"After the glamorous presentation of the German Computer Game Awards in Munich, the industry is now suffering from a Berlin hangover. The German government's key points for a new games funding directive are anything but a boost for the industry. As Bavaria's Digital Minister, I miss the serious will and full commitment to make Germany internationally competitive as a games location. There is still chaos when it comes to funding at federal level. The pots of the Federal Ministry of Economics are still empty, while the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) has 33 million Euros in unused funds. It is hard to believe that for months the BKM has not even had an idea of how to spend the money. If it is too difficult for the BKM to distribute the money, we states will be happy to help! All they have to do is put aside the arrogance of the federal government and talk to us federal states," said the Bavarian Games Minister.

"The BMWK's key points do not provide the games industry with planning security or reliability. In my opinion, the intended abolition of cumulation is a historic mistake. The minimum threshold of 400,000 Euros also needs to be discussed urgently. Small studios must not be left behind and must also have access to federal funding. The federal government must not unilaterally shift responsibility to the states and must adjust its funding so that it is ideally sufficient for all high-quality applications, but at least fair. At the same time, we don't want any ideological restrictions on the funding of games, as is the case with the special bonuses. There must be no political interference in the creativity and creative freedom of developers. In view of the new key points, the federal games funding currently remains a mere management of bottlenecks and not a strong signal for an urgently needed new start for the "Games from Germany" brand. The willingness to fulfil our Bavarian wish for tax credits is to be welcomed, but this cannot be done unilaterally at the financial expense of the federal states. As Bavaria's games minister, it is my job to give the industry all the support it needs to become internationally competitive and to make the best possible use of its innovative power and creativity as a driver of digital transformation," said Mehring in Munich.