Important Deadlines for the Games Industry in GSA and Europe
– 2 min read
Whether it's a funding application, speaker or award submission – with the growing number of festivals and awards, it's easy to lose track of what's going on. A guide to help.
As the saying goes: only those who take part can win—whether at major awards or smaller industry prizes. Regardless of whether the award brings prestige or prize money, nothing is more frustrating than missing out simply because you overlooked the deadline. The same applies to the growing number of conferences and events currently seeking speakers—and even more so to funding opportunities offered by the federal states. To help you keep track, GamesMarkt has compiled a calendar of upcoming deadlines. The list does not claim to be exhaustive, but we’re happy to expand it: if you know of a deadline that’s missing, just send us a quick email at redaktion@gamesmarkt.de.
Submission deadlines* for funding programs
Baden-Württemberg
by MFG Baden-Württembert - Expected summer 25: Games As the new funding guidelines are currently undergoing the EU approval process, submissions are temporarily not possible.
Bavaria
by FFF Bayern
- 28.04.25: XR
- 02.06.25: VR
- 10.06.25: Games
- 22.09.25: VR
- 13.10.25: XR
- 21.10.25: Games
- 24.11.25: VR
Berlin/Brandenburg
by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
- 22.04.25: Games - 22.04.25: Innovative Audiovisual Content
Hamburg
by gamecity Hamburg
- 02.05.25: Games Lift 2025- tba: Protoytpe funding Deadline has passed, no new deadline announced yet
Hesse
by WI Bank - 02.06.25: Hessen serious Game
Lower Saxony/Bremen
by nordmedia
- 04.09.25: All areas (including games)
Mecklenburg Western Pomerania
No games funding at present
Northrhine-Westphalia
by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
- 09.05.25: Digital Games
- 09.05.25: Serious Game and Gamification
- 19.09.25: Digital Games
- 19.09.25: Serious Game and Gamification
Rhineland Palatinate
by Medienförderung RLP - 30.04.25: All areas (including games)
- 31.10.25: All areas (including games)
Saarland
by Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digital and Energy - tba: The Saarland is reorganising its media funding and is also evaluating its funding for games. A reboot is expected in mid-2025.
Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia
by MDM - Mitteldeusche Medienförderung - 11.08.25: All areas (including games)
- 06.10.25: All areas (including games)
Schleswig Holstein
by WT.SH - ongoing: Digital Games Schleswig-Holstein is funding games as part of its ‘State Economic Programme 2021-2027’ and in a procedure that differs from that of the other federal states. Applications can be submitted on an ongoing basis.
Submission deadlines* for upcoming awards, festivals, showcases
- First come, first serve: Market Exploration Trip to Singapore and Thailand
- 21.05.25: Deutsche Indie Showcase (German Indie Showcase)
- 31.05.25: devcom Indie Showcase
- 27.06.25: Market Exploration Trip to France and Paris Game Biz
- 01.09.25: DevGamm Awards
Call of Speaker deadlines* for upcoming conferences
- 27.04.25: devcom Developers Conference 2025
- 19.05.25: gamescom congress
- 03.06.25: Unite 25
- 22.09.25: DevGamm Portugal
*dates are in the format dd.mm.yy.
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