Michael Schade, CEO and co-founder of Rockfish Games © Gero Goerlich, 39pix.com Business Rockfish Games' CEO: "56.5% of the Dev Budget Comes Straight From Our Own Pocket" Rockfish Games recently received a record-breaking grant of €8 million. In this interview, CEO Michael Schade discusses the ~€20 million budget, the six-year development period, the importance of the grant for the Hamburg-based studio, and Germany as a location for the games industry. By Marcel Kleffmann • 5 min read
PEGI Director Dirk Bosmans and USK MD Elisabeth Secker have worked together on the changes (PEGI/USK) Business Lootboxes Now Automatically PEGI 16, in Changes Inspired by Germany Age rating system PEGI will incorporate sweeping changes to their classification of dark patterns, inspired by the German USK. Come June, lootboxes will automatically be PEGI 16, blockchain content PEGI 18 and punishment for not logging into games daily PEGI 12. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Business Subscribe to GamesMarkt+ and Get a Pumuckl Switch or Steam Key We are teaming up with Quantumfrog for a subscription drive and giveaway: The next 10 annual subscribers to GamesMarkt+ will receive a Switch or Steam key of their choice of Pumuckl and the Crown of the Pirate King. By Team GamesMarket • 2 min read
Business LFG Con Organises Business Hub for the First Time and Calls For Speakers This year, LFG Con will also have a business hub for the first time. There, interested parties can learn about entering the games industry through talks, panels and workshops. The organisers are looking for interested speakers until the end of April. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
The four-person team at Aldamami Games comprises: (from left to right): Alice Schneider, Katharina 'Mikey' Müller, David Cafisso and Marvin Braun. Katharina 'Mikey' Müller and Marvin Braun founded the studio. © Aldamami Games Business Aldamami's Bloodletter: Competing for Attention in Turn-Based Games Aldamami Games' Bloodletter is set to launch on Early Access at the end of the month. We spoke to Katharina 'Mikey' Müller about the wide variety of turn-based games available, the idea of altruism and healing rather than fighting, and the development of games in Berlin. By Marcel Kleffmann • 6 min read
Indie Arena Booth at gamescom 2025 (Indie Arena Booth 2025, Rolf Otzipka) Business Indie Arena Booth 2026 Submissions Open Until 13 April The submission period for Indie Arena Booth 2026 has opened today. Apart from several booth options, a range of counties from Europe as well as the bpb and Nintendo offer free exhibition slots. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
NCSoft Co-CEO Park Byung-moo (NCSoft) Business NCSoft Buys Majority Stake in Berlin Casual Studio JustPlay Korean mobile publisher NCSoft has bought Berlin casual platform studio JustPlay for around $202 mil, with a 70 per cent majority stakehold. The deal will be finalised end of April. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Slay the Spire 2 can be played in co-op mode with up to four players and has topped the weekly global Steam charts © Mega Crit Games Business G+ Slay the Spire 2 Tops Weekly Steam Charts, Where Does the Legend of Khiimori Rank? Following its spectacular launch, Slay the Spire 2 has taken the top spot in the global weekly Steam charts in terms of revenue. Meanwhile, The Legend of Khiimori by Aesir Interactive and Mindscape has made it to number 10 in the German charts. By Marcel Kleffmann • 3 min read
V-Bucks (Fortnite) © Epic Games Business Epic Games Raises Prices for V-Bucks (Fortnite) Epic Games has announced price increases for V-Bucks (Fortnite) due to higher operating costs. The Battle Pass has also been adjusted, meaning players will no longer receive bonus V-Bucks. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Business Xsolla: A Reimagined Platform and More Payment Integrations At the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming, Xsolla unveiled its rebranded platform, presenting tools intended to assist developers in building sustainable businesses, expanding their reach globally, and fostering direct relationships with their players. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Business Outersloth Makes Publisher Contract Public Indie publisher Outersloth have made their publishing conditions public after a talk at GDC 2026. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
The founder of Zestum (from Left to Right): Levin Vonester, Salomo Bertram, Jasmin Blekic und Samuel Wiebe | Picture: Thilo Schmülgen/TH Köln Business Zestum Starts Scentbar Kickstarter: Smell What You Play The start-up Zestum wants to use its Scentbar to bring smells to life on screen to match what's happening. A Kickstarter campaign is set to fund the first product line. Three scent sets are planned for the launch: nature, racing and action. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
