The number of game companies in Germany is up 15.5% year-on-year, the German Games Industry Association (Game) reported today, rising to 908.

This represented a 46% increase over 2020, according to data sourced by Game from gamesmap.de in collaboration with Goldmedia between May 2022 and May 2023.

Game also reported a 7% increase in those employed by developers and publishers compared to 2022. The organisation attributed the speed of growth to smaller studios being established.

The German games industry and extended games labour market secured more than 30,000 jobs over the past year. The extended market included employees of service providers, the media, retailers, and education, and the public sector.

“The federal government’s funding of games is proving effective,” said Game managing director Felix Falk, referring to the major funding programme introduced by the German government in 2020.

The German Games Fund allows companies to claim back as much as 50% of development costs, with the funds available increasing to €70 million in November 2022.

“Games funding cannot currently be relied upon [but] the ongoing wave of game company start-ups shows the huge potential that Germany has and proves that putting better parameters in place was precisely the right step to take,” Falk said.

“The federal government and the German Bundestag must now reverse the recent games funding cuts and increase the funding to €125 million to further facilitate the positive growth.”

Falk suggested that in the medium term, the German government should consider “games funding based on tax incentives that have been a long-established and reliable standard” in other countries like Canada and France so that Germany can “keep pace with its international competitors with its games and game technologies.”