07 Foundation for Digital Games Culture Games connect people, expand our horizons and create spaces for us to meet, learn and express ourselves. The Foundation for Digital Games Culture invites stakeholders from the political and academic spheres and from civil society to take advantage of the opportunities games offer as a medium and to apply them in the areas where society needs them most. With its pilot projects and platforms for dialogue, the foundation demonstrates how digital games can provide inspiration for education, remembrance, democracy and cultural development. Its goal is to make the societal impact of games visible and tangible – with projects that demonstrate conviction and spark change. Founded in 2012 on the initiative of the German Bundestag and the German games industry, the foundation operates at the intersection of games and society, serving as a driving force and an intermediary. game – The German Games Industry Association is a shareholder in the foundation, and the foundation’s work is supported by an interdisciplinary advisory board with 14 members who belong to bodies such as federal government ministries, youth protection organisations, and cultural and university institutions. The foundation is the result of a joint initiative by the German Bundestag and the German games industry. The foundation’s educational projects create new channels that make learning and teaching accessible. The courses and workshops offered as part of the Stärker mit Games 2 (Stronger with games 2) initiative used video games to provide cultural education to more than 2,100 children and young people in 2024. The initiative is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and forms alliances with non-profit organisations throughout Germany to support children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Projekttage Games (Games project days), an initiative sponsored by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, helps bolster the digital and media literacy of more than 780 pupils at 20 schools in Berlin and Brandenburg. Another project funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg is the third round of the Start-Up: Games Entrepreneurs workshop programme, which supports 16 company founders from Berlin and Brandenburg as they take their first steps in the game industry. The GamesTalente (Games talents) programme, a Germany-wide initiative in partnership with Bildung & Begabung, launched its talent competition in early 2025 via a new gamified online portal. Its objective is to use game development to help young people develop skills that they will need for their future careers. Democracy and social cohesion are another focus of the foundation’s work. The pilot project Games und Wertebildung (Games and values education) celebrated its high point in summer 2024 with its symposium Werte ins Spiel bringen (Bringing values into play). Sponsored by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, the project focuses on the question of how digital games can support inclusive values education. The two-year project Let’s Remember! Erinnerungskultur mit Games vor Ort (Cultivating commemoration with games on-site) marked its conclusion with a tour and a conference panel at gamescom. In partnership with the Deutscher Kulturrat, the project proved that games in museums and memorial sites make a valuable contribution to remembrance of the injustices of the Nazi era. The project was funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ Foundation) and the Federal Ministry of Finance. The Foundation for Digital Games Culture also explores and promotes cultural awareness of games in society. The foundation’s award office oversees the jury process for the German Computer Game Award, organized by the German federal government and game – the German Games Industry Association, as well as for the gamescom award, the official award of the world’s largest gaming event. Since autumn 2024, the foundation has also been responsible for the education and networking programme Press Start: Games Founding Grant, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. For the symposium AI Utopia and Dystopia: How Artificial Intelligence and Games Are Shaping Futures, which took place in late 2024 and was funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the foundation additionally invited experts to engage in a dialogue about the role of AI in game development and the picture of AI that games paint with the stories they tell. Further information is available on www.stiftung-digitale-spielekultur.de/en Interview Nandita Wegehaupt on the games founding grant In October 2024, game – The German Games Industry Association and the Foundation for Digital Games Culture launched the Press Start: Games Founding Grant, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Nandita Wegehaupt, Managing Director of the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, explains the programme’s objectives and how it has been received. F: What is the objective of the Press Start: Games Founding Grant? The founding grant supports creative minds from the games industry as they establish their own game development studios; the aim is to bolster the diversity of the games landscape in Germany. Over a period of 18 months, 132 start-up founders receive a stipend that helps them focus on the start-up phase of their company and devote themselves to the development of their own games. At the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, we also provide support for the stipend recipients via our education and networking programme, and the individual coaching we offer is designed to help the start-up founders realise their vision in a lasting way. F: How has the response to the founding grant been? The response has been incredible; it has exceeded our expectations. Well over 1,000 people applied in total, either individually or in teams of up to three. Our 24-person jury chaired by Linda Kruse (founder of the games studio “the Good Evil”) certainly had its work cut out for it! But despite all the hard work, everyone involved was so impressed with the creativity that drives these game developers. We’ve also received a lot of positive feedback from people outside of the project – from within the games industry, from colleges and universities, and from politicians and the funding sector. The establishment of a national launch pad for fresh new game concepts in Germany has proven to be a very popular idea. F: How have the regular workshops and coaching sessions been received? The participants are very aware of the fact that Press Start is a fantastic opportunity for them, so in nearly all the workshops, they are extremely motivated – even when the workshops focus on subjects like legal issues. The goal of our programme is to prepare the participants for all the important aspects of founding a company in the games industry, from financing and project management to business management, marketing and community management. In addition to the workshops, the one-to-one consulting sessions with our coaches are in high demand. Participants have told us that being able to talk to their coaches about what it’s like to found their own companies – and having the coaches understand those experiences first-hand – has been very rewarding for all of them. And the coaches find their mentees to be highly motivated and capable. On top of that, the stipend recipients also support each other and share best practices. F: What does the future hold for the programme? The stipend recipients will receive support until the end of the 18-month programme. There will be a big half-time event at gamescom in Cologne in August 2025. We plan to celebrate the official conclusion of the programme with all the participants in Berlin in 2026. In the meantime, we regularly offer stipend recipients the opportunity to participate in other local events – by providing discounts, for instance – such as GG Bavaria in Munich or A MAZE. in Berlin, because for the future, we want to create as tightly knit a network as possible within the games industry. F: What has been your personal highlight from the programme thus far? I’m most excited about the fact that with Press Start, we are able to support so many promising people from such different backgrounds. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the creative ideas that grow out of this programme will influence the games landscape in Germany. Nandita WegehauptManaging Director of the Foundation for Digital Games Culture
