Dorothee Bär / Felix Falk © Tobias Koch / Dirk Mathesius Business German Government Significantly Increases Budget for Games Funding The budget for federal games funding is increasing. The German government's draft budget allocates €88 million for 2025, rising to €125 million per year from 2026 onwards. The German government's draft budget provides a total of €88 million for 2025 and €125 million annually from 2026 By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
© Hooded Horse & Firesquid Products TactiCon 2025 Returns in July, Hooded Horse Expands Portfolio TactiCon, the annual digital convention dedicated to strategy games, is returning in July. It is once again being organised by Hooded Horse and FireSquid. The first partners have already been confirmed. Furthermore, Hooded Horse is expanding its portfolio. Strategy game publishers Hooded Horse and FireSquid have announced details of TactiCon By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Sponsor Wall Portside Game Assembly © Gamecity Hamburg Business Portside Game Assembly Sets Sail on Friday Gamecity Hamburg will host its first Portside Game Assembly on 27 June 2025. The programme and attendees have now been finalised. Other elements of the event include an opening mixer, a networking brunch, a conference, and a games industry party. Gamecity Hamburg's inaugural Portside Game Assembly conference for By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
Sabrina Ratih, COO of G2 Esports // Kings World Cup Clubs 2025 at Cupra Arena Villepinte on June 01, 2025 in Paris, France. © Sabrina Ratih // Manuel Queimadelos / Quality Sport Images / Kings League Esports Why Has G2 Esports Set up a Traditional Football Team for the Kings League? A total of thirty-two teams from around the globe participated in the Kings World Cup Clubs 2025 (Kings League), including G2 Esports and its football team, G2 FC. We spoke to Sabrina Ratih, COO of G2 Esports, about bridging the gap between traditional sports and esports. G2 FC is a By Marcel Kleffmann • 3 min read
© Xbox Business Xbox Moves Forward With Aggregated Gaming Library This week, Microsoft is launching test runs of the aggregated gaming library on the Xbox app for Windows PCs and handheld devices as part of the Xbox Insider programme. The Xbox app for PCs now has publisher tabs, too. From this week onwards, Xbox Insiders will be able to preview By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
© illustration from sector plan Business Update: UK Boosts Creative Industries, UKIE and TIGA Welcome Commitment The 10-year vision for the UK as a modern industrial location presented on 23 Juni brings concrete funding commitments for the British creative and games industries. Both industry associations, UKIE and TIGA, are delighted. As we have only just discovered, in addition to its press release on Friday, the British By Stephan Steininger • 4 min read
© HeroFest Business HeroFest 2025 Is Getting Bigger HeroFest is back in Bern, bigger and with new attractions. As one of Switzerland's largest conventions for gaming, pop culture and fantasy, the event will take place from 3 to 5 October this year. For the past seven years, HeroFest has taken place at the Bernexpo exhibition grounds. By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
© Zabka Business Żabka Enters Digital Gaming Sales Market With Epay The Żabka chain, which is almost omnipresent in Poland, will be selling games in future – albeit only in digital form. This has been made possible by a partnership with the prepaid and gift card provider epay. Epay is a business unit of Euronet and specialized in in the distribution of By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach © Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima, Sony Interactive Entertainment Products Death Stranding 2: On the Beach By the end of March 2025, Death Stranding had surpassed 20 million players. Initially released on PlayStation 4 in 2019, it was later made available on other platforms. Its sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, will also debut on PlayStation. The story picks up around eleven months after the By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
Host Steven Micksch, Jan Wagner (game), Chris Flato (ESBD), Tanja Jost (CDU Hesse), Frank Nagel (CDU Frankfurt) © Leny Munier for Hessen Crash Esports Success for Hesse Crash and Pixels'n'Profit Conference With over 360 active tournament players, many from abroad, the Hesse Crash fighting game event was a resounding success. The same applies to the Pixels'n'Profit conference, which took place for the first time. According to the organisers, active tournament participants from Asia took part for the By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
HoYoverse Café in Berlin © HoYoverse Business Impressions From the HoYoverse Café in Berlin and Its Opening On 20 June, HoYoverse opened its long-term HoYoverse café in Berlin, offering food and beverages inspired by Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero. Here are some photos from the café and the opening event. HoYoverse, the entertainment brand behind popular games such as Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless By Marcel Kleffmann • 3 min read
© Xbox / Blizzard Products Xbox Will Be Exhibiting at gamescom 2025, Blizzard Entertainment Also on Board Xbox will be back at gamescom 2025 again this year. Blizzard Entertainment has also promised to reveal new information about World of Warcraft: Midnight in Cologne. Microsoft had its largest ever Xbox stand at gamescom in 2024, and the Redmond-based company will be exhibiting in Cologne again this year. Although By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
