Saarland Relaunches Games Funding in March

The new funding guidelines for games in Saarland will come into effect on March 1, 2026. This means that developers from Saarland will once again be able to submit applications via the central Saar funding portal from March 1. Funding will be available for both prototypes and the production of market-ready titles. The measure also focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These are to benefit from a funding rate of up to 75% of their project-related development costs.

"With the new funding structure, we are responding to the dynamic developments within the industry and the changed framework conditions at the federal level. It is important to us to consolidate Saarland as a relevant location for game development in Germany and to create reliable funding at the state level. We want to further advance Saarland's studios with their innovation potential. Many technological innovations from the games industry are also highly relevant for traditional sectors of the economy. We want to strengthen this innovative power in a targeted manner," says Saarland's Minister of Economic Affairs, Jürgen Barke.

For developers in Saarland, this marks the end of a long dry spell in terms of funding. As GamesMarkt learned last year, games funding in Saarland had to be redesigned due to changes in responsibility for games funding. This also involved an evaluation of the measures and a corresponding redesign. At the time, a spokeswoman assumed that a new call for funding could take place “in late summer 2025.”

Meanwhile, the game – The German Games Industry Association has welcomed the relaunch of games funding in Saarland on social media. “The new funding guidelines are an important signal from Saarland to local games companies. They provide guidance and form a good basis for the further development of the local framework conditions,” said Felix Falk, managing director of game.