Results of the Study "Games Industry in Berlin-Brandenburg - An Investigation of the Economic Factor"

The survey focused on industry structure, age structure (of the companies), employees, sales structure, return on sales and location factors.

Juliane Müller, managing director of the commissioned consulting and research group Goldmedia Gmbh Strategy Consulting, led through the presentation. In a subsequent panel moderated by Sven Oswald (rbb multimedia expert, radioeins presenter, freelance journalist), State Secretary for Economic Affairs Michael Biel, Jeannine Koch, Executive Chairwoman of medianet berlinbrandenburg e.V., and Helge Jürgens, Managing Director of New Media Funding Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, commented on the results. Around 25 industry and press representatives attended the release.

The following is an overview of the key findings:

• The games industry in Berlin-Brandenburg currently comprises 301 companies, 182 of which are in the core market (developers and publishers). This means that around one in five games companies based in Germany is located in the capital region. Almost 40 percent of all German e-sports companies are based in Berlin-Brandenburg. More than in any other federal state.
• The average age of the core market companies in Berlin-Brandenburg is approximately 6.4 years. Accordingly, this is a very young industry.
• 2,600 employees work in the core market. This means that 22 percent of all employees in the German games industry work in Berlin-Brandenburg. Around 30 percent of all employees are not male. Of the ten companies with the most employees in Germany, five are from Berlin.
• The core market in Berlin-Brandenburg had total sales of €446 million in 2021. This corresponds to around 12 percent of the industry’s total sales in Germany. The industry’s high export ratio is worth highlighting.
• The five largest companies generated 70 percent of total industry sales in the capital region Berlin-Brandenburg. More than one in four companies achieved high returns (> 15 percent).
• The Berlin-Brandenburg location is valued above all for its good networking opportunities. The most important factor is considered to be the funding opportunities, which, however, are rated as good or very good by only about half of all companies.

Michael Biel, State Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises:
“I am very keen to play a part in making Berlin the No. 1 games location in Germany – we will do everything we can to achieve this! We want to take another fresh look at the GamesCapital.Berlin brand with the new government and thus lead the games economy into a successful future. We are very proud of the many companies that are already getting such great things off the ground.”

Jeannine Koch, executive chairwoman of medianet:
“Berlin as the No. 1 games location is, in view of this study, not too far away. Already today, every fifth games company based in Germany is located in Berlin-Brandenburg. In the field of e-sports, the figure is as high as 40%. This once again confirms the “House of Games” project that we are launching with the game association to establish Berlin as the most important games location in Germany. We are pleased that this has already found its way into the coalition agreement and that the capital region’s claim to be the hub of this innovative industry will thus continue to be underpinned in the future. It is also pleasing to note that the networking opportunities in particular are seen by the study participants as an attractiveness factor for the region. This speaks for the good work at the location, among others also by medianet, which has been doing networking work for the games industry for 11 years now.”

Helge Jürgens, MBB Managing Director New-Media Funding Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg:
“Games ‘Made in Berlin-Brandenburg’ are on the road to success – with innovative stories, diverse perspectives, the latest technology, as an image factor for the media location of the future and as an industry with growing companies and jobs. The enormous growth of the games and XR industry is also reflected in the application situation at the MBB. The states of Berlin-Brandenburg support the trend and have increased new media funding for 2022. The task now is to consolidate this, to fully exploit the potential of the industry and to establish Berlin as the No. 1 games location.
The great potential of the games industry is also evident nationally. Due to the high application volume for federal game funding in 2023, the BMWK had to announce a renewed application stop in the near future. In order not to dampen the growth process and to continue to create reliable framework conditions for the games industry, federal funding must urgently be further expanded as an equivalent to state funding.”

You can find all results of the study on our Facts & Figures page.