MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Half of the German population plays games according to data firm Newzoo.
These 41.5m consumers allowed the German market to increase by two per cent in 2015, generating $4bn (2.7bn) in revenues.
Germany is the biggest games market in Europe and Newzoo predicts that its revenues will continue to grow at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent until 2018.
Nintendo used to be the leading player in the German games industry, until the PS4’s launch in late 2013. In 2014, Sony became No.1 in the country. German gamers displayed a keen interest in getting their hands on a next gen console,” explains data firm Euromonitor.
Dr. Maximilian Schenk, MD of German games trade body BIU told MCV: Physical purchases clearly remain the more popular option for buyers.
But digital continues to gain ground as more titles are downloaded. Digital PC and console games made up 25 per cent of revenue in the first six months of 2015.”
The German market is known for its tough restrictions on violent games. For example, Bethesda’s Fallout 3 was banned from the country until 2018. But the publisher finally succeeded in overturning the title’s ban earlier this year.
Germany is also known for Gamescom, Europe’s biggest games trade show. Companies from over 33 countries have already registered for this year’s expo. The event currently has 60 per cent more registrations than last year at this point. In 2015, Gamescom gathered 806 exhibitors from 45 countries and approximately 345,000 from 96 countries visited the event.
Population: 82,652,000
Capital City: Berlin
Currency: Euro
GDP (Per Capita): $45,091.4
KEY RETAILERS
Amazon, Mller, Expert, GameStop, MediaMarkt, Pro Markt, Real, Saturn, Otto Group
MAIN DISTRIBUTORS
Gro Electronic, Bagainpark, Koch Media, Vitrex Multimedia, Nordic Game Supply, Big Ben Interactive
TOP DEVELOPERS
Bit Barons, Candygun Games, Crytek, Deck 13, Deep Silver Fishlabs, Keen Games, Reality Twist, Yager Development, Blue Byte, Bigpoint, Goodgame, Daedalic Entertainment, Piranha Bytes, Studio Fizbin, Rat King Entertainment, Headup Games, Mimimi Productions, Crazy Bunch, The Good Evil
PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION
Capcom, CI Games, Deep Silver, EA, Kalypso, Microsoft, Bandai Namco, Nintendo, Sony, Ubisoft
