Benedikt Grindel about the new House of Games Berlin and its role as gaming hub

Interview with Benedikt Grindel, Managing Director of Ubisoft Blue Byte GmbH

Games Capital Berlin spoke with Benedikt Grindel, a pioneer of the German gaming industry and Managing Director of Ubisoft Blue Byte GmbH. He talks about Berlin’s unique creative spirit, the new House of Games Berlin, and his view on the city’s prospects for Ubisoft and the gaming industry.

“We’re not just looking at what we did in the past, but at the great things we can do in the future. And I think that’s where the House of Games can be an even stronger spark for everybody, not just for us.”

Absolutely! My name is Benedikt Grindel. I’m the Managing Director of Ubisoft Blue Byte GmbH, which includes our three German studios in Düsseldorf, Mainz and Berlin. I’m super excited to be here at the Berlin booth to talk about the House of Games.

We had always been looking at Berlin. It’s a very creative, attractive city where we were confident we would already find great talent, and also be able to attract creative talent from other places of the world. So when the question came up of where to open a new studio, we looked at various places – but at the end of the day, Berlin was just great.

First of all for us it simply was a perfect opportunity. When we came to Berlin, we moved into our current office, knowing that at some point we’d need to move on. So we kept looking for new opportunities to find the best possible place in the city.

Then the idea came up: let’s create something like a House of Games right in the vibrant creative heart of Berlin. Together with other industry players, we were immediately on board – because, at the end of the day, the gaming ecosystem is what makes us all strong.

Everyone benefits from a good mix of big and small, indie studios, intermediate companies and institutions like the game association, the USK, along with all the other players who will be part of the House of Games or close to it. For us, it’s the perfect moment to help grow the ecosystem in Berlin – and of course across Germany.

I think Berlin is, by definition, a place where people look for disruption – they look for the next big thing. And that is exactly what the games industry is about: change and transformation. Right now, we’re witnessing the entire industry going through a major transformation, which is not an easy one. But Berlin is a place where people explore those future opportunities in an exemplary way.

Published 12 September 2025