How to Avoid Trouble with Germany's Minor Protection as a Games Exhibitor Pascal Wagner July 28, 2025 – 5 min read Share this post Marek Brunner, Chief of Testing at USK, gives tipps and information for exhibitors not yet familiar with German Minor Protection requirements. © USK, Marek Brunner Business Asha Sharma Wields the Axe, Cutting 3,200 Jobs at Xbox As announced, the new head of Xbox is turning Microsoft’s console unit on its head. 3,200 jobs are to be cut, 1,600 of them with immediate effect. Compulsion Games and Double Fine are being spun off via a MBO, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are to be sold, and Arkane is working on a solution. By Stephan Steininger • 3 min read (Pexels/Cottonbro) Business When a Game Dies: What Do Video Game Providers Owe Their Players? The fact that the EU Commission is not currently considering legal changes to the Stop Killing Games initiative does not mean game publishers can do anything they want. IT Law specialist Sandra Spensberger explains the practical implications in her monthly GamesMarket column. By Sandra Spensberger • 4 min read Business It's our Indieversary! Get GamesMarket+ for Just 1€ a Week To mark one year of independent publishing, we are offering the deepest discount yet: A full year of GamesMarket+ access for one euro a week. That's just 52€, more than half off! By Team GamesMarket • 1 min read The Belvedere Museum Vienna is hosting FROG in 2026 (City of Vienna) Campus FROG 2026 Submissions Open, Include Subotron Game Jam Future and Reality of Gaming is leaning ever closer to the games industry this year: The game studies conference, held at Belvedere Museum in Vienna under new organisers, takes place from 20-22 November and welcomes talk submissions for the topic Playing Art until 15 September. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read Thomas Lehrs, Director of Game Engineering at InnoGames Development G+ Why AI Makes Sense in All Areas, But Not For All Tasks Sunrise Village is still online thanks to the use of AI. Thomas Lehrs, Director of Game Engineering at InnoGames, talks about the reactions to the Sunrise Village case, when and how the use of AI can be effective and why InnoGames uses AI to drive growth but not for cost savings. By Stephan Steininger • 7 min read Frithjof Michaelsen, Digital Policy Officer at French consumer association Que Choisir Ensemble (Cameron Bunney, Unsplash) People French Consumer Association on PlayStation: "Profoundly Unfair to Consumers" French consumer association Que Choisir Ensemble sees Sony's decision to stop making physical games possible on PlayStation as a net negative for consumers: Less choice, no second-hand market, no longterm playability are the consequence, says Digital Policy Officer Frithjof Michaelsen. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read Will no longer be sold in Europe come February 2027: The first Nintendo Switch (Nintendo) Products Nintendo Will Stop Selling Switch in Europe In preparation for the EU Battery Regulation, Nintendo will replace the Switch 2 and other products with new models. The Switch 1 in all variants as well as some special controllers however will be discontinued, since they will not receive exchangable battery models. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read (DGA) gamescom Netherlands Pavilion confirmed for gamescom 2026 The Dutch Games Association has confirmed the Netherlands Pavilion at gamescom 2026 business area. 24 companies and institutions from the Netherlands will exhibit there. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read daily GamesMarket Daily – 06. July 26: Xbox Cuts, Paintbucket, Africa,Stop Killing Games on Sony, PS Charts & More At Microsoft Xbox, the new financial year has got off to a bad start. 3,200 jobs are set to be cut, half of them with immediate effect. Elsewhere, however, there is cause for hope: African studios can look forward to two funding programmes. By Stephan Steininger • 5 min read
Business Asha Sharma Wields the Axe, Cutting 3,200 Jobs at Xbox As announced, the new head of Xbox is turning Microsoft’s console unit on its head. 3,200 jobs are to be cut, 1,600 of them with immediate effect. Compulsion Games and Double Fine are being spun off via a MBO, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are to be sold, and Arkane is working on a solution. By Stephan Steininger • 3 min read
(Pexels/Cottonbro) Business When a Game Dies: What Do Video Game Providers Owe Their Players? The fact that the EU Commission is not currently considering legal changes to the Stop Killing Games initiative does not mean game publishers can do anything they want. IT Law specialist Sandra Spensberger explains the practical implications in her monthly GamesMarket column. By Sandra Spensberger • 4 min read
Business It's our Indieversary! Get GamesMarket+ for Just 1€ a Week To mark one year of independent publishing, we are offering the deepest discount yet: A full year of GamesMarket+ access for one euro a week. That's just 52€, more than half off! By Team GamesMarket • 1 min read
The Belvedere Museum Vienna is hosting FROG in 2026 (City of Vienna) Campus FROG 2026 Submissions Open, Include Subotron Game Jam Future and Reality of Gaming is leaning ever closer to the games industry this year: The game studies conference, held at Belvedere Museum in Vienna under new organisers, takes place from 20-22 November and welcomes talk submissions for the topic Playing Art until 15 September. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
Thomas Lehrs, Director of Game Engineering at InnoGames Development G+ Why AI Makes Sense in All Areas, But Not For All Tasks Sunrise Village is still online thanks to the use of AI. Thomas Lehrs, Director of Game Engineering at InnoGames, talks about the reactions to the Sunrise Village case, when and how the use of AI can be effective and why InnoGames uses AI to drive growth but not for cost savings. By Stephan Steininger • 7 min read
Frithjof Michaelsen, Digital Policy Officer at French consumer association Que Choisir Ensemble (Cameron Bunney, Unsplash) People French Consumer Association on PlayStation: "Profoundly Unfair to Consumers" French consumer association Que Choisir Ensemble sees Sony's decision to stop making physical games possible on PlayStation as a net negative for consumers: Less choice, no second-hand market, no longterm playability are the consequence, says Digital Policy Officer Frithjof Michaelsen. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Will no longer be sold in Europe come February 2027: The first Nintendo Switch (Nintendo) Products Nintendo Will Stop Selling Switch in Europe In preparation for the EU Battery Regulation, Nintendo will replace the Switch 2 and other products with new models. The Switch 1 in all variants as well as some special controllers however will be discontinued, since they will not receive exchangable battery models. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
(DGA) gamescom Netherlands Pavilion confirmed for gamescom 2026 The Dutch Games Association has confirmed the Netherlands Pavilion at gamescom 2026 business area. 24 companies and institutions from the Netherlands will exhibit there. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
daily GamesMarket Daily – 06. July 26: Xbox Cuts, Paintbucket, Africa,Stop Killing Games on Sony, PS Charts & More At Microsoft Xbox, the new financial year has got off to a bad start. 3,200 jobs are set to be cut, half of them with immediate effect. Elsewhere, however, there is cause for hope: African studios can look forward to two funding programmes. By Stephan Steininger • 5 min read
