Gaming
Computer games industry wants funding
Developers in this country have 30 percent higher costs than in other countries, according to the managing director of the game industry association, Felix Falk. photo
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Whether fantasy worlds, first-person shooter shooting or strategy tasks: games are a billion-dollar business that is growing in the digital age. But there is a problem in the domestic industry.
After a short breather, Germany continues The computer and video games industry continues its strong growth path. As the Game Association announced in Berlin, citing a market analysis by GfK, sales of games, associated hardware and online services rose by six percent to 9.97 billion euros last year.
“This is considerable growth,” said association managing director Felix Falk, expressing confidence that the “dynamic development” will continue. In 2022 there was only a mini-plus of one percent, while the Corona years 2020 and 2021 were exorbitantly strong at 32 and 17 percent respectively.
Back then, people were at home a lot more than usual – many people used some of this extra time in their own four walls to play games in front of the computer or on the console. Demand was very high and there were delivery problems with the hardware. The devices are now available again, and the hardware business rose by seven percent to around 3.3 billion euros last year. 5.8 billion euros were spent on games (plus six percent). Business with online games services, such as cloud services, remained roughly the same.
What is remarkable is the high willingness to pay among passionate gamers. The number of games sold fell by eight percent. However, association representative Falk did not justify the fact that sales increased due to a price increase. Rather, the prices remained “relatively stable”. However, many consumers bought games shortly after they were released and did not wait for discounts. The big new releases of the past year include the fantasy adventure “Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”, the superhero action game “Spider-Man 2”, the horror shocker “Alan Wake II”, the action role-playing game “Starfield” and Jump -and-run game “Super Mario Bros. Wonder”.
German developers only play a minor role
While the sale of games is a billion-dollar business, the German share in the value chain is only small. According to one estimate, less than five percent of games sales come from games from Germany. The German industry association and politicians want to change that. The Federal Ministry of Economics has set the goal of “driving forward the further development of Germany as a games location and establishing it as a lead market in international competition”.
But whether this will succeed is anyone’s guess. Because the German developers and publishers (producers) – there are 12,000 employees in mostly smaller companies – are suffering from stomach aches. According to a study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics, the industry only receives around a quarter of the government support that is common in countries such as Great Britain, France and Canada. This means there is a lack of international competitiveness, warns association head Falk. Local developers would have 30 percent higher costs than abroad.
Although there is now more funding than before, it is not enough to cover the needs of the emerging industry: Last year, the Federal Ministry of Economics had to stop applications for the current funding year in May, and this year no new applications can be made for one Funding pot of the Federal Ministry of Economics must be submitted.
Uncertainties about new funding millions
The industry’s appeals to provide more money in the federal budget despite the general need for austerity had at least a partial effect last fall: In November, the Bundestag’s budget committee decided to provide an additional 33 million euros in games funding for 2024. To everyone’s surprise, this money was not allocated to the Federal Ministry of Economics, but to the budget of the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, Claudia Roth (Greens). It is not yet possible to apply for this funding because no corresponding guidelines have been published yet.
This in turn causes discontent in the games industry. “The federal government must act decisively – and quickly,” warns association managing director Falk. Several months have passed and there are still no signs that things can start soon. “Given the tense situation facing companies, this is incomprehensible.” Only with improved conditions can one become a lead market – “a goal that the federal government has set itself.”
A spokeswoman for the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM) said that both houses were still agreeing on the structure of the games funding. “These discussions are not yet complete.”