From left: Aleksandra Franz, Hanna Metelmann and Jennifer F. Donovan a.k.a. The Umbra Collective about prototyping with unusual materials. (The Umbra Collective) Development G+ Under the Hood: Unusual Prototyping for Tufuur In our regular GamesMarket developer series, game studios present pictures of what's going on under the hood of in their game making process. This time, The Umbra Collective leads us through prototyping the world for their upcoming game Tufuur with Play-Doh. By Pascal Wagner • 3 min read
Wings Interactive Introduces White Label Publishing and Finishing Funds In addition to funding self-publishing projects, Wings has introduced two additional forms of financial support for games created by women and gender-marginalized developers. Wings is thus reaching out to developers who need publishing support or whose projects are already in the final stages. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Iron Nest: Heavy Turret Simulator © Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos Products Iron Nest: Heavy Turret Simulator The Iron Nest: Heavy Turret Simulator demo attracted more than a million players had a 98% positive review rating, and saw players spend an average of nearly 2.5 hours. With this popularity, the game made it onto over 900,000 wishlists. But what lies behind this heavy spider-turret simulator? By Marcel Kleffmann • 5 min read
Development Black Box: Infinite Arsenal – Generating Gameplay, Not Just Assets Advertorial | Most generative AI in game production stops at the asset stage. In Black Box: Infinite Arsenal, an in-house AI model generates combat mechanics at runtime. At gamescom, Meshy shows the new 3D version — playable in Hall 10.1, Stand F072. By Meshy.ai • 1 min read
People Kai Wienke Joins the Xbox DACH & CEE Team The German Xbox team has brought on Kai Wienke, an experienced communications specialist, as Senior Communications Manager for Xbox DACH (GSA) & CEE. Wienke most recently worked at Freenet. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Daily GamesMarket Daily – 18. Aug. 26: game, Market data, ENC gamescom, Original Force, Stray Fawn, Sidekick, asap, Giants The German market was down, gamescom is on track to set a new record, the ENC has been postponed and there’s new funding – in terms of news, it was a day of ups and downs for the industry. By Stephan Steininger • 6 min read
The Polaroid Go Gen 3 will be the base for the Pokémon collab. Photos of the collaboration products are not yet revealed (Polaroid) Products Pokémon and Polaroid Announce Collaboration Product Line Polaroid and Pokémon have announced a collaboration with Pokéball, Pikachu and Sylveon cameras as well as film editions and accessories. Pre-orders will begin on 25 August 25 2026, the products will be available from 5 October. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Harley Zhao, Founder & CEO, Original Force, and Marco Pacifico, Studio Director Germany and Business Development Director (Pictures by Original Force) People Original Force Expands to Europe and Opens Studio in Mainz The Chinese external development specialist Original Force is entering the European market and establishing its ninth global office in Mainz. It will be led by Business Development Director Marco Pacifico, who also serves as Studio Director for Germany. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Sidekick Publishing at gamescom 2026 © Sidekick Publishing gamescom Giants Software and Sidekick Publishing Reveal Their Gamescom 2026 Line-Up Sidekick Publishing will be showcasing five games at Gamescom, including two new titles. Giants Software is bringing Farming Simulator 25: Beans & Alpacas, as well as Straw Hats. By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
Products Stray Fawn Announces Incremental Game Infinity Bounce Swiss studio and publisher Stray Fawn has announced their upcoming game Infinity Bounce, funded by the Zürcher Filmstiftung. It will be a pinball incremental game. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Business German Gaming Market Down at Mid-Year A decline in hardware sales, in particular, has caused the German gaming market to fall short of last year’s figures at mid-year. However, it is still too early to speak of a trend for the full year. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
game-CEO Felix Falk and Gerald Böse, President and CEO of Koelnmesse (Pictures by game and Koelnmesse) gamescom Gamescom 2026 Breaks First Records Even Before Opening More exhibitors, more country pavilions, and a larger indie area—gamescom has already broken its first records about a week before opening. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
