People Fair Play Democracy Steps Into the Light With Open Letter Fair Play Democracy, an alliance of academics and serious game makers together with over 50 signatories from games, politics, media and civil society is calling for games to use their power and possibilities to fight against anti-democratic sentiments. Everyone can now co-sign the open letter. By Pascal Wagner • 4 min read
Daniel Budiman (left, RBTV) and Maik Reichelt (ByteRockers' Games) People ByteRockers' and RBTV Debut Docuseries Indie Made Showing how games "outside the mainstream" are made: Daniel Budiman of Rocket Beans and Maik Reichelt of ByteRockers' have kicked off their new joint documentary series at caggtus 2026. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
A "Zeche" wherever they go: Björn and Jennifer Pankratz are Pithead Studios (Pithead). People G+ Pithead Studio: Realising Our First "Indie" Game Pithead Studio alias Björn and Jennifer Pankratz have released their first new game after Piranha Bytes on Friday, as a shadowdrop on Caggtus' Webedia FYNG show. We talked to them about being just the two of them again and what they wanted to bring back with Cralon. By Pascal Wagner • 3 min read
Nassim “Nassada-” Dahman with the trophy | Picture: DFL/Getty Images/Oliver Hardt Esports Nassim “Nassada-” Dahman is 2026 German eFootball Champion At the two-day final in Hamburg, Nassim “Nassada-” Dahman from SC Freiburg ultimately emerged as the new German eFootball champion and won the Virtual Business League Grand Final by WOW. He is also qualified for the EA SPORTS FC Pro World Championship. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Jennifer English won a BAFTA Game Award as Performer in a Leading Role in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Picture: Getty Images for BAFTA Awards Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 And Dispatch Win Big at BAFTA Games Awards With three awards each, Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 and Dispatch were among the big winners at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards. Atomfall was named Best British Game. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
The organising team of 27th DemoDay TUM, the keynote speaker and a prominent streamer: Among them Johanna Pirker (center front), David Plecher (second from left), Josh Sawyer (center back) and Maurice Weber (third from left) (GamesMarket) People Josh Sawyer Opens 27th DemoDay at TU Munich (Update) New 'games professor' Johanna Pirker at TUM opens her first DemoDay with a bang: Josh Sawyer from Obsidian held the keynote about working in small teams in front of a full hall of students. The keynote is now free to watch online as well. By Pascal Wagner • 3 min read
Patricia E. Vance © ken jones photography People ESRB President Patricia Vance Retires Later This Year Patricia Vance, who has been the president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) for nearly 24 years, will be retiring later this year. By Marcel Kleffmann • 1 min read
The CH Ludens crew regularly meets up for research and workshops (Pfister) People G+ Confoederatio Ludens: Researching Swiss Game History A team of researchers from four universities has been researching the entire history of Switzerland as a games production and publication market for three years now. We spoke to the team about entering the project’s last year, and how Switzerland’s past formed its present indie boom. By Pascal Wagner • 7 min read
Stephan Reichart, outgoing Managing Director of game events GmbH | Frederik Hammes, Managing Director-designate of game events GmbH | Felix Falk, Managing Director - game - the German Games Industry Association © Reichart, game events | Hammes, game events | Dirk Mathesius Business Frederik Hammes Takes Over Leadership of Game Events From Stephan Reichart From May 2026 onwards, Frederik Hammes will take on the role of Managing Director at game event, succeeding Stephan Reichart, who has chosen to step down. Hammes has over 20 years' experience in the industry, including a long-standing tenure as Managing Director at Travian Games. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Luciana Viganò is a lawyer, game maker and President of the SGDA (Lezzilegal) People G+ Luciana Viganò: A Lawyer Making Games, Making Politics She studied law, then founded her own studio to make games, then joined Switzerland’s game developer association. Today, Luciana Viganó is President of the SGDA – without giving up any of her other paths. By Pascal Wagner • 4 min read
Bavaria’s Digital Minister Fabian Mehring with representatives of the funded studios in front of the Gamerei | Picture by GamesMarkt Funding Bavaria’s Digital Minister Fabian Mehring Hands Over Funding Cheques A few weeks after FFF Bayern published the funding decisions, Bavaria’s Minister for Digital Affairs, Fabian Mehring, presented the cheques to the grant recipients at the Gamerei in Munich. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
Lead Game Designer Andrea Salamone talks about character design, voice over and quality assurance in Screamer (Milestone) People G+ Interview: How Screamer Made Languages a Character Trait Make it feel like Tekken: Anime story racer Screamer by Milestone has taken a unique stance in their career mode. We spoke to Lead Game Designer Andrea Salamone about multi-language voice over as story-defining mechanic, voice over QA and cyberpunk. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
