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Economic Significance of the Games Industry in Germany and Leverage Effects of Games Tax Incentives (game - Verband der deutschen Games-Branche)

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Studygame - Verband der deutschen Games-BrancheApril 202524 pages36 min readOriginal source
Key number
€8.70
Additional gross value added per 1 EUR of tax-based games funding p.2
Largest segment
69%
Share of games companies that develop games p.5

Summary

  • 1 EUR of tax-based games funding would bring around 4.80 EUR of additional investment, 8.70 EUR of gross value added and 3.40 EUR of tax revenue and social contributions.p.2
  • The games industry has a gross value added multiplier of 2.62 and an employment multiplier of 2.96.p.2
  • In 2023 around 1,200 companies in the extended core market generated an estimated 3.9 billion EUR in revenue, with around 13,900 people employed.p.5
  • The games industry's production value was an estimated 5.9 billion EUR in 2023, with gross value added of 2.8 billion EUR and 12,033 employees subject to social insurance.p.7
  • Federal games funding of around 70 million EUR in 2023 generated total investments of 277 million EUR and 506 million EUR of total gross value added.p.12
  • 1 EUR of federal games funding triggered 7.20 EUR of gross value added and 2.80 EUR of taxes and social contributions.p.12
  • A 30% tax incentive on 200 million EUR of eligible investment would mean tax credits of 60 million EUR and 522 million EUR of total gross value added.p.17

Key insights

  1. German-based games developers accounted for only about 35% of industry revenue in 2023.p.7
  2. Indirect effects add a production value of 5.7 billion EUR and gross value added of 2.8 billion EUR.p.8
  3. Induced effects add a production value of 3.4 billion EUR and gross value added of 1.8 billion EUR.p.9
  4. 1 employee in the games industry secures almost 2 (1.96) further jobs in other industries.p.10
  5. The 506 million EUR of value added from federal funding equals a GDP contribution of 500 million EUR and about 196 million EUR of taxes and social contributions.p.13
  6. The German games market is the fifth largest worldwide, and funding rates under the federal programme are between 25 and 45% from 2025.p.15
  7. In France 33% of around 580 studios have an average project budget above 1 million EUR.p.16
  8. France introduced its tax incentive in 2007 and the UK in 2014.p.16
  9. A 30% tax incentive would trigger total investments of 286 million EUR and tax and social contribution returns of 202 million EUR.p.17

Topics and entities

DACHEuropeFranceUKPublic funding and grantsStartup ecosystemsStartup fundingFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Actiongame – Verband der deutschen Games-BrancheGoldmedia

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