Games & XR Mitteldeutschland has drawn up a five-point plan to encourage politicians to support the games industry in Thuringia. The main focus is on implementing measures that have long been standard practice in other German federal states.
The key demand that the industry association Games & XR Mitteldeutschland (Games & XR Central Germany) is making of policymakers in its five-point plan is not simply for more money. Rather, industry representatives are primarily concerned with visibility, support and transparency, so that existing funding opportunities can be utilised to the full.
This is also urgently needed in the case of Thuringia. In terms of media policy, the state is closely linked to its neighbours Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Together, these three states form the ‘Central Germany’ region, where films, games and other media are supported, for example, by the MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (Central German Media Fund). Nevertheless, the development of the games industry varies greatly across the three states, as is evident from the latest German games industry study.
Although Central Germany as a whole would rank 7th on the list of federal states, ahead of Lower Saxony, of the total of 56 game studios counted in the study, 36 are located in Saxony and 14 in Saxony-Anhalt. Thuringia alone, together with Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, brings up the rear with 6 studios.
This is reason enough for the Games & XR Association of Central Germany, which also represents the industry’s interests in all three states, to set out specific demands for Thuringia:
Essentially, the aim is to raise the profile of the existing opportunities offered by the MDM, as well as by the Thuringian State Chancellery and the Thuringian Development Bank, and to communicate them more effectively.
Here, the association seeks to expand degree programmes related to games and XR, as well as to increase the visibility of already established departments. However, this also involves funding. Research should be better funded, and facilities such as game labs should be made permanent.
The “Weltlabor XR” project can establish a central hub within Thuringia’s media landscape where immersive technologies for games, interactive media and applications in business, healthcare, education and culture are developed and brought to life
Strengthening Thuringia as a hub for games and XR requires targeted structures to support start-ups and to connect existing companies. In the association’s view, the Thuringian Agency for the Creative Industries (THAK) could be involved in this. Regular networking meetings should also be established.
According to the association, a central website or platform is intended to help raise the profile of games from Thuringia. The platform that Saxony unveiled at gamescom last year is likely to serve as a model here.
Finally, Games & XR Mitteldeutschland is calling for a political round table involving all stakeholders. This is an idea that has long been established in other federal states. In Berlin, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, the industry and politicians regularly engage in dialogue within a fixed framework. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, too, politicians regularly seek dialogue with the industry, even if this is not institutionalised there as a ‘round table’.
