Change of Responsibilities Including Games Formally Resolved

As was to be expected, the new Federal Chancellor reorganised the responsibilities of the ministries in an organisational decree at the same time as convening the first cabinet meeting. As a result, the Bundesministerium für Forschung Technilogie und Raumfahrt Ministry of Research, Technology and Space is now responsible for games, headed by Dorothee Bär as Minister.

It is a formality without surprise: as part of an organisational decree, the new Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz has enacted changes with immediate effect, in accordance with paragraph 9 of the Federal Government's rules of procedure. This includes the formal renaming of ministries as stipulated in the coalition agreement. Additionally, the creation of the Bundesministerium für Digitales und Staatsmodernisierung (Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation) as a new ministry was ordered. The reallocation of responsibilities, as agreed in the coalition agreement, is also part of this decree.

Under point 10, the responsibilities for games and the German Aerospace Centre, among others, were assigned to the Bundesministerium für Forschung Technilogie und Raumfahrt (BMFTR; Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space). This means that political responsibility for games policy including federal games funding and the Deutscher Computerspielpreis (DCP; German Computer Games Award) has been transferred to Dorothee Bär's ministry, along with the organisation responsible for implementing games funding at the federal level.

The decree also clarifies that the new Bundesministerium für Digitales und Staatsmodernisierung will be responsible for all fundamental issues of digital policy, federal networks, cybersecurity, digital and data policy, digital infrastructures, the digital economy, and the Digital Summit, among many other areas previously handled by other ministries.

The transfer of responsibility for consumer protection to the Bundesministerium für Justiz und Verbraucherschutz (Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection) is also at least partially relevant for the games industry. This is further reflected in the fact that consumer protection “in the digital space for goods and products, online trade or online transactions’ is explicitly mentioned in consumer policy.