© TaKeTV Business gamescomLAN Gains Momentum, Doubling Visitor Numbers For the second time, gamescomLAN took place in Cologne, and once again, the offshoot of the world’s most important gaming trade fair was a resounding national success. The final figures from gamescomLAN, held from 21 to 23 February at the Cologne Exhibition Centre, speak for themselves. A total of By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
© ID@Xbox Publishing ID@Xbox Showcase With Daedalic Entertainment, Okomotive and More Daedalic Entertainment presented Woodo and Okomotive presented Herdling at the ID@Xbox Showcase during IGN FanFest. World premieres included The Lonesome Guild by Don't Nod and Rockbeasts by Team17. IGN opened its annual FanFest with an ID@Xbox showcase. Daedalic Entertainment, in collaboration with developers Yullia Prohorova and By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
© StS Business Funding Applications for Games Projects up to €900,000 Stopped Less than two months after the launch of the games funding programme, the budget allocated by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWK) has been exhausted. As a result, an application stop for projects with a funding volume By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
© GDD Business Games Can Be Submitted for the GDD Indie Award 2025 The GermanDevDays Indie Award will take place for the sixth time and, as in previous years, will offer a total of €10,000 in prize money in various categories. Submissions can be made from now until the end of March. Entries for the GDD Indie Award 2025 must be submitted By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
Gothic 1 Remake (Nyras Prologue) / Solarpunk / Bongo Cat © THQ Nordic / rokaplay / BlueBottle Business Many GSA Studios Taking Part in Steam Next Fest Numerous developers and publishers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are taking part in the Steam Next Fest in February 2025. Some of the games are among these top ten most successful demos. The latest Next Fest, which showcases upcoming games, launched yesterday evening on Steam. There are over two thousand By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Madeleine Egger and Ruth Lemmen (from left) at Womenize! 2024 © Susanne Müller/Womenize! Business Booster Space Announced Date of Next Womenize! Games and Tech The Berlin-based Booster Space has announced the next Womenize! conference for 4 June, which will mark its tenth anniversary. Ticket sales for the upcoming Womenize! conference, which sees itself as a platform for women, non-binary people and all marginalised voices in the games and tech industry, are set to start By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
© Playstack Publishing PEGI Reviews Classification Criteria Following Successful Balatro Appeal Following the successful appeal against Balatro's PEGI 18 rating, along with a similar case, the pan-European PEGI system is reviewing its classification criteria. In Germany, the USK had already assigned Balatro a 12+ rating with a content descriptor in 2024. Two successful appeals have prompted PEGI to reassess By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Felix Falk, Managing Director game - The German Games Industry Association © Dirk Mathesius/game Business Game Hopes for a Swift Formation of the New Government Even though games and games funding are not Germany’s most pressing issues after the election, the German games industry hopes the new government will begin its work quickly—especially with the next funding freeze just around the corner. The funds allocated by the outgoing government are nearly depleted, as By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
© Graph by Digital Development Management Business DDM Identifies Nearly 1,000 Deals with a Total Volume of $17.5 Billion According to Digital Development Management’s (DDM) 2024 report, the number of deals has increased, while the total transaction volume has decreased compared to the previous year. However, this decline is solely due to Microsoft’s nearly $69 billion acquisition of Activision, which drove 2023’s transaction volume to an By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Pitch Level Up 2025 © Jan-Marius Komorek Business Over 60 Mentoring Sessions at Pitch Level Up 2025, Plus Expert Talks and Peer-to-Peer Reviews On 20 February, Gamecity Hamburg hosted its annual Pitch Level Up event, where gaming experts give 1:1 feedback on game pitches. Participants came not only from Hamburg, but also from Cologne and Bavaria. The fourth edition of Gamecity Hamburg's Pitch Level Up took place on 20 February. By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
Friedrich Merz, CDU leader and likely next German chancellor © CDU / Tobias Koch Business Germany Has Voted: What Does It Mean for the Local Games Industry? The results of the 2025 Bundestag elections are in. The most likely constellation for the next German government is a coalition between CDU/CSU and SPD. But what do the parties have in mind for the games industry? So far, not much. According to the preliminary official results of the By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Gemma Brown and Rob O'Farrell (right) succeed Jon Rissik as Co-CEOs © Pictures from Dovetail Games Website Business Gemma Brown and Rob O'Farrell to Become New Co-CEOs of Dovetail Games PulluP Entertainment has set the course for the leadership of its subsidiary Dovetail Games: long-standing executives Gemma Brown and Rob O'Farrell will take over CEO responsibilities from Jon Rissik. Almost two years after its acquisition by PulluP (in German)—then still operating as Focus Home Entertainment—a leadership By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
