On the initiative of Joachim Ebmeyer (CDU), Holger Mann (SPD) and Dr Andrea Lübcke (B90/Grüne), members of the Bundestag have formed a cross-party parliamentary group on games to institutionalise dialogue between politicians and the industry. It’s not the first such group in the Bundestag.
The aim of the newly founded Parliamentary Group on Gaming is to bring the potential of games more strongly into the political spotlight. At the same time, the aim is to create a forum for regular exchange between politicians and the industry. Joachim Ebmeyer (CDU), Holger Mann (SPD) and Dr Andrea Lübcke (B90/Grüne) were the initiators of the Parliamentary Group on Gaming.
"Games have long been more than just entertainment. They are an important economic, cultural and innovation factor and stand for creative value creation, technological development and new forms of learning," says Ebmeyer. "With the Parliamentary Group on Gaming, we are creating a permanent point of contact in the Bundestag to provide stronger political support for the industry and enable better conditions for development, promotion and international competitiveness."
Holger Mann points to the engagement of many young people in the digital space, which is a matter of course for them. "Politicians must take these realities of life seriously and actively shape them. We have taken an important first step by recognising eSports as a non-profit activity. We will discuss the next steps in the parliamentary group," emphasises Holger Mann.
Dr Andrea Lübcke adds: "Games are social spaces. Whether in eSports or when playing together across continents, they bring people together and create new forms of community. At the same time, games are a relevant tool for research and education: they help train AI, prepare for the next moon landing and open up new, immersive forms of learning. This diversity deserves political attention."
However, this is not the first time that parliamentarians in the Bundestag have worked together across party lines on the subject of games. A parliamentary games group was formed back in 2012 (in German). The initiators at that time were Tabea Rößner, Thomas Jarzombeck, Manuel Höferlin and the current Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil. In 2019, Rößner and Höferlin, together with Falko Mohrs, were also initiators of the parliamentary group on esports (in German).
And in 2011, before the first parliamentary group on games was formed, the first politicians' LAN (in German) took place in the Bundestag as a cross-party initiative to introduce MPs to the topic of games. The initiators of the Politicians' LAN were the late FDP politician Jimmi Schulz, Manuel Höferlin and the current Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space, Dorothee Bär, who is responsible, among other things, for promoting games at the federal level.
