SPIEL 2026: The Board Game Industry on the Cusp of Digitalisation

Tabletop

TCG Awards 2026 Honour Women+ in Magic, Star Wars: Unlimited Wins Several Prizes

At the inaugural TCG Awards at Spiel Essen, Star Wars: Unlimited won the most prizes while the big three TCGs went home empty-handed. Honoured for their engagement were Women+ in Magic, creator Pleasant Kenobi and the Mulligan TCG Shop from Hamburg.

By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read

Tabletop

Kick-Off for Spiel 2026 in Essen: Awards, Growing Numbers and Future Issues

The international board game industry as well as the community gather in Essen, Germany, to show, try and celebrate the newest games at Spiel 2026, the world’s largest board game fair. We’ve covered the opening event and awards here.

By Melanie Döring • 4 min read

Events

Serious Games Summit Returns August 2027

The second edition of Serious Games Summit in Switzerland will take place on 31 August 2027, again in Lucerne.

By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read

Daily

GamesMarket Daily – 26 Oct 26: German Esports Summit, MAG-C, SkySpirit, TCG Awards, Spiel, Toukana, GameRecruit, Xbox

A successful games event in Essen shaped by digital transformation, strategic moves in esports in Cologne and a surprising personnel change at Microsoft – today’s news shows that change is part of everyday life in the industry.

By Team GamesMarket • 5 min read

Events

Nerds at Rave is Creating a Party Atmosphere at MAG-C

After the trade fair comes the party: the MAG-C community trade fair is once again organising an evening programme on the first day of the event in 2027. Nerds at Rave is once again in charge of the music and entertainment programme.

By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read

Products

200 Studios, 1 Event: Toukana Interactive Organises the Indie Treasures Sale

Over 200 indie studios are joining forces for the Indie Treasures Sale on Steam, led by Berlin-based indie studio Toukana Interactive. The aim is to showcase the independent games industry and give smaller games more visibility, just ahead of the release of GTA VI.

By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read

Business

GameRecruit Supports Career Guidance With ‘Next’

GameRecruit has launched ‘Next’, another tool aimed at schools, training organisations and relevant professional bodies, which can use it to help young people with career guidance using playful tasks.

By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read

Tabletop

TCG Awards 2026 Honour Women+ in Magic, Star Wars: Unlimited Wins Several Prizes

At the inaugural TCG Awards at Spiel Essen, Star Wars: Unlimited won the most prizes while the big three TCGs went home empty-handed. Honoured for their engagement were Women+ in Magic, creator Pleasant Kenobi and the Mulligan TCG Shop from Hamburg.

By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read

Funding

Federal Funding Goes to SkySpirit

Another studio has been awarded funding by the German Federal Government's Video Game Funding Programme. This funding is supporting SkySpirit, based in Stuttgart.

By Marcel Kleffmann • 5 min read