03.1 Companies and employment figures

The strong upward trend in the German games industry in recent years has weakened considerably. Whereas a 15 per cent rise in the number of games companies was recorded a year ago, this growth rate has slowed to just 4 per cent in the past twelve months. The pace of growth in the number of employees in the German games industry has also declined, from 7 per cent a year ago to just 3.5 per cent currently.

Against the backdrop of a difficult economic situation and the consolidation in the international games industry, the flatter yet still positive trend appears contradictory at first glance. This is attributable in part to the fact that, while the application freeze for federal games funding has hampered new project development for over a year, many German games companies are still in the midst of projects supported by previously received federal funds. This has softened the impact of the consolidation wave and stabilised the German industry as a whole – showing once again how important predictable and reliable framework conditions are in order for Germany to assert itself against the international competition as a game location.

In the last twelve months, the number of companies developing and publishing computer and video games in Germany has risen to 948. The number of companies exclusively developing games has increased in particular – by 6 per cent in 2023 to 477 this year. A further 52 companies in Germany work solely in game publishing. And a total of 419 companies are active in both development and publishing.

The positive trend has continued also in terms of employment numbers. Development studios and publishers now employ 12,408 people, as compared to 11,992 last year. In addition to those involved in game development and publishing, an estimated 20,000 further workers are employed in the games industry in Germany. The industry thus provides well over 30,000 jobs in the country, including for skilled professionals in educational institutions, the media, the public sector and retail.

A closer look at the figures for games start-ups reveals how much the upward trend in the German games industry has cooled off recently. While the introduction of federal games funding in 2020 brought a surge in games start-ups, this wave has since levelled off considerably, as indicated by the game start-up report conducted by Goldmedia on behalf of game. The report shows the number of newly founded games companies in Germany to have fallen by around 65 per cent from 2020 to 2023, from 93 to 33. These companies, however, have proven surprisingly stable. Despite the difficult investment climate in the international games industry, the insolvency rate for games companies founded in Germany since 2020 is just 6.6 per cent. This compares to a roughly 8.4 per cent overall rate for start-ups operating in similarly dynamic economic environments between 2021 and 2023, as determined by startupdetector.

The newly founded games companies show an uneven geographical distribution: Bavaria (62), Berlin (57) and North Rhine-Westphalia (38) take the top positions. By comparison, in the same period, only three games companies were founded in Schleswig-Holstein and only one in Thuringia. In relation to their previous numbers, however, some lower-ranking locations such as Brandenburg, Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate showed stronger growth in terms of percentage than did the leading locations. At the same time, the major differences in games policy at the state level become apparent, which is also reflected in game’s industry barometer. An additional point of interest: compared to games companies in Germany that have been established for a longer period, recent start-ups are more frequently headed by women. About 18 per cent of development studios and publishers founded since 2020 have female executives – or 5 per cent more than the rate at older games companies.