André Naumann, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM, Central German Media Funding) at the end-of-year reception of MDM in Leipzig © MDM/Uwe Frauendorf Development MDM Expands Funding Opportunities for Game Studios in Central Germany The Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM, Central German Media Funding) has launched its first dedicated funding guideline for games, which has been approved by the European Commission and will take effect at the start of the new year. This marks a significant boost for studios based in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
© René Rother / Devolver Digital Business René Rother on Children of the Sun, Being an Indie Developer, and His Failed but Successful Publisher Pitch German indie developer René Rother is behind the creative shooter Children of the Sun. Over the course of the year, we had the opportunity to talk to him about the game, the challenges of being an indie developer, and the failed pitch that led to a deal with Devolver Digital. By Marcel Kleffmann • 5 min read
© Dreamlit Products Towers of Aghasba Recovering flora and fauna is at the heart of Towers of Aghasba, an open-world sandbox recently released in Early Access on PC and PlayStation 5 by Dreamlit Games. It introduces some fresh ideas compared to other survival games, while also drawing on exploration, combat, crafting and more. Towers of By Marcel Kleffmann • 3 min read
From left to Right: Tim Lukas Leinert (Arctic Game), Christopher Hohage (Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises), Christoph Kohlhaas (KölnBusiness), Amanda Förtsch (MBB), Arjuna AJ Sath (Head of Partnerships Games Ground) and Gianni Sommer (CFO Games Ground) © Games Ground GmbH Business Games Ground 2024 Increases Internationality Games Ground Berlin became more international this year. For example, Publisher Connect featured many companies from Japan, while Arctic Game brought studios from Sweden. This year, Games Ground Berlin (GamesMarkt reported) hosted international delegations through partnerships with KölnBusiness (Cologne) and Arctic Game (Sweden). Cologne was Games Ground's first By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
Freshly confirmed: Glenn Micallef is among the members of the European Commission team led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (front, 4th from right). However, the Maltese-born Social Democrat, who is the EU Commissioner for Youth, Culture and Sport, only partially makes it into the spotlight in the group photo (back, 2nd from right). Photo: Dati Bendo, European Union, 2024 © Dati Bendo, European Union, 2024 Business New EU Commission Confirmed: Glenn Micallef Takes Over Culture Portfolio On November 27, 2024, the European Parliament approved the new EU Commission. Alongside Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's team, Glenn Micallef was confirmed as the EU Commissioner for Youth, Culture, and Sport. The formation of the new European Commission was far from a foregone conclusion. Notably, debates By Team GamesMarket • 2 min read
Elon Musk @ X © X Business Elon Musk Plans AI Game Studio at xAI The world's richest man wants to "make games great again". To do this, he plans to set up an AI game studio at xAI because "too many game studios are owned by massive corporations". Once again, he lashed out at the woke culture. Elon By Team GamesMarket • 1 min read
Christoph Minnameier © Franziska Freiwald Publishing Christoph Minnameier Releases Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 - The Dead King's Secret, created by Christoph Minnameier, is coming to Switch today and PC next week. For Minnameier, the preparation for the game launch came in the middle of a period of career uncertainty. At least the signs for his game look promising. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Winfried Diekmann, Managing Director of Aerosoft © Aerosoft Business Aerosoft's FS Conference 2024 With Over 400 Visitors Last weekend, Aerosoft hosted the FS Conference, the biggest German event for FlightSim fans. More than 400 visitors and over 20 exhibitors were present. The event will take place again next year. On 23 November 2020, the FS Conference, the largest German event for flight sim fans, took place in By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Ann Hurley, General Manager at Team17 Digital / Julia Pfiffer, CEO at astragon Entertainment © Team17 / astragon, Sabrina Weniger Publishing astragon Takes Over Worldwide Physical Distribution of Team17 Games Following Team17's acquisition of astragon Entertainment in January 2022, the two companies are working more closely together. Under a new agreement, astragon will handle the physical distribution of selected Team17 Digital games worldwide. The collaboration began last year with the distribution of a Collector's Edition of By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
© devcom Business Devcom Team Hosts Charity Stream for a Good Cause Next Monday, the devcom team will be hosting the charity stream “Play for Ukraine”. In addition to donations, the aim is to provide information about the situation of the games industry in Ukraine. On Monday, December 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the devcom team will host By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
© CD Projekt Business Cyberpunk 2077 Breaks Milestones, New Witcher Game in Full Production CD Projekt continues to do well, with Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 selling strongly. The first part of the new Witcher trilogy is in full production, and a new Cyberpunk animation project with Netflix is in development. In the third quarter of 2024, the CD Projekt Group's By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
© Appcharge Business Appcharge Secures Funding from Creandum, Supercell and Bitkraft The Israeli start-up Appcharge has raised around 26 million US dollars in a recently concluded round of financing. The DTC service provider was supported by existing investors, as well as by Creandum, Supercell and Bikraft, among others. The ongoing lawsuits against Apple and Google for their role as gatekeepers By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
