Annual Report of the German Games Industry 2024 (game - Verband der deutschen Games-Branche)

Summary

• The German games market grew 6 percent in 2023 to around €9.97 billion, after growing only 1 percent the year before.p.7
• In-game and in-app purchases rose around 6 percent to €4.7 billion.p.8
• Smartphones and tablets generate the highest revenue at around €2.9 billion, ahead of consoles at around €2 billion and PCs and laptops at around €1.7 billion.p.9
• 948 companies in Germany develop and publish games; the growth in the number of companies slowed to 4 percent and in employees to 3.5 percent.p.14
• The number of newly founded games companies fell by around 65 percent from 2020 to 2023, from 93 to 33.p.15
• Only 12 percent of companies expect a positive development of the German games industry in 2024, compared with 48 percent a year earlier.p.13
• The federal games funding application freeze that began in May 2023 continues; the original funds amounted to €50 million, and parliament provided an additional €33 million per year.p.17

Key insights

1. 58% of 6- to 69-year-olds in Germany play computer and video games, and the average age of players is 38.2 years.p.4
2. 48% of players are female.p.4
3. About 24.6 million people in Germany play mobile games, and around 22.7 million play on smartphones.p.5
4. Revenue from online gaming services fell 1 percent to €860 million.p.9
5. 98 percent of revenue on smartphones and tablets comes from in-app purchases.p.9
6. The insolvency rate of games companies founded since 2020 is only 6.6 percent.p.15
7. Half of the games companies (50 percent) expect a positive or fairly positive development of their own business in 2024.p.13
8. Berlin and Brandenburg paid out a record €5.3 million in games funding.p.21