The computer games industry in Germany

Playing computer at the Leipzig GC. Photo: http://www.gc-germany.com

Along with the Tokyo Game Show, the Leipzig Games Convention is the biggest computer and video games trade fair in the world. It is a meeting-point for people working in the industry and it draws computer game fans from throughout Europe. There, they can play the latest games, meet fellow fans and find out about upcoming releases.

Every year the Leipzig GC announces a record attendance and each year more and more exhibitors are on hand to showcase their new products. Over 200,000 visitors are expected at the 2009 GC, which runs August 19-23.

The increasing interest in the Games Convention is confirmed by the turnover figures in the industry: The computer and console games industry in Germany now generates a bigger turnover than the film industry and is the second biggest market in Europe (2.14 billion euros in 2007). According to consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, the market should continue to rise by 10 percent per year until 2011. Trade fairs such as the Leipzig GC are considered an important factor in pushing growth. And the spread of broadband internet connections has contributed to a massive boom in online games.

Computer games culture

A further factor for computer games’ success is that they have quite simply become an accepted part of society and everyday culture. This was officially confirmed, when the Deutscher Kulturrat – the German culture institution – officially recognized the games industry as part of culture in August 2008. It was the belated recognition of a creative industry that employs artists from a whole host of different areas: from designers to script writers to composers.

These creatives work for companies such as dtp entertainment. Based in Hamburg, it is considered one of the leading German publishers, developers and distributors in the entertainment software industry. It employs over 180 staff and publishes games across all platforms. Its current game “The Dark Eye: Drakensang” has firmly established itself in the top regions of the German computer game charts.

German developer Blue Byte Software, based in Düsseldorf, is also responsible for developing hits. The internationally well-known strategy game series “The Settlers” is its brainchild. And in more recent times Frankfurt-based entertainment company Crytek made waves by landing an international hit with its first release “Far Cry”. The first person shooter game, released in 2004, sold more than 2.6 million copies and provided the company with the foundation to go on to develop the highly acclaimed successor games Crysis (2007) and Crysis Warhead (2008). So impressive are the graphics in Crytek’s games, that at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2007, Bill Gates used Crysis to show off Windows Vista’s graphics potential.

Yet whilst these entertainment companies have been successful, German companies only make up for a fraction of the computer and video game titles produced each year. Compared to industry giants such as EA Sports and Ubisoft, the German entertainment companies are small fish. This is a fact that has not escaped industry experts in Germany and recent years have seen attempts to promote game development.

Promoting games in Germany

In 2006, the German Developer Prize was launched, to recognize and promote German games. And in spring 2009, the “German Computer Game Prize” will take place for the first time. The best German computer game will be awarded 150,000 euros, with 600,000 euros of prize money up for grabs across the nine categories in total. Furthermore, private colleges and universities now offer courses specifically designed to prepare students for a career in the computer games industry.

The German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom) estimates that a third of Germans play computer and video games. “Computer games are no longer a youth phenomenon. Even 19 percent of over 50-year-olds play today,” said Manfred Gerdes, member of Bitkom’s executive committee. With a whopping two-thirds of 14-29 year-olds playing computer games and one third of households owning a games console, it would seem that it is only a matter of time before the next generation of game developers create the next big game: “Made in Germany”.

Link: http://www.gc-germany.com