The revival in the German games industry continues: a sharp increase in the number of German games companies and employees in 2021 is followed by further growth in both figures. There are currently about 786 companies in Germany engaged in the development and marketing of computer and video games or in one of these two fields. This is 5 percent more than in 2021. These are the figures released today by game – the German Games Industry Association, based on data collected by gamesmap.de. A majority of these companies (392, down 3 percent) are active in both development and publishing. 358 game studios focus exclusively on developing games for PCs, game consoles and mobile devices. The number of these companies showed particularly strong growth, up 14 percent from the previous year. The number of companies operating solely as publishers is significantly lower, with only 36 such companies in Germany (an increase of 13 percent).
The positive trend in the number of employees is also continuing, as last year’s 8 percent growth was followed by approximately 3 percent growth in the core market. This brings the total number of people working in game development and marketing in Germany to 11,242. Differences in growth rates underline the extent to which the creation of numerous smaller companies is driving the current growth trend in the German games industry: while the number of games companies in the core market has increased by 26 percent in the last two years, the growth rate in the number of employees has been slower over the same period , which is slightly less than 12 percent. After a decline in the previous year, the games industry’s expanded labor market also recovered somewhat: the estimated number of people employed here increased by almost 6 percent to 17,048. This vast labor market includes people employed by service providers, retailers, educational institutions, the media and the public sector associated with the games industry. In total, the German game industry currently provides more than 28,000 jobs.
The revival in the German games industry continues: The 26 percent increase in the number of companies in just two years shows that Germany is on the right track in striving to improve its attractiveness as a location for games. Many of the positive effects of the relatively new federal aid program for the games industry have yet to show up in the statistics, as most games are the result of a multi-year development process. Still, the growth in the number of companies and their employees is already proof of the industry’s strong confidence that this upswing will continue, especially if policymakers continue to make the decisions necessary to continue this course,” said Felix Falk. , director of the game.
Another year of strong growth for the German games market
In fact, sales from computer and video games and associated hardware are currently growing faster than the number of companies and their employees: after a historic performance in 2020 with a sales increase of 32 percent, sales revenues in the German games market continued to rise. increase significantly in 2021 with a total of approximately EUR 9.8 billion in sales revenue generated by games, gaming hardware and fees for online gaming services – a 17 percent increase compared to the previous year. Turnover from computer and video games grew by 19 percent to around 5.4 billion euros, partly due to an increase in in-game and in-app purchases. Games hardware sales have also grown, by 18 percent in total to approximately $3.6 billion. The demand for game consoles and accessories for gaming PCs was particularly high.
About the market data
The online directory gamesmap.de continuously records the developments in the German games industry. game continuously calculates the employment situation of the industry in Germany using detailed industry observations and research, along with appropriate forecasts and expert surveys.
The market data is based on statistics from the GfK Consumer Panel and data.ai. The methods GfK uses to collect data on the German digital games market are unique in terms of both their quality and their global use. They include an ongoing survey of 25,000 consumers representative of the German population as a whole regarding their video game purchasing and usage habits, as well as a retail panel. The data collection methods provide a unique insight into the German market for computer and video games.
game – the German Game Industry Association
We are the association of the German games industry. Our members include developers, publishers, and many other game industry players, such as esports event organizers, educational institutions, and service providers. As a co-host of gamescom, we are responsible for the world’s largest computer and video games event. We are an expert partner for media and for political and social institutions and answer questions in the field of market development, game culture and media literacy. Our mission is to make Germany the best location for games.
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