game: Germany Gaming Industry in 2025
German government invested in gaming companies €183M from 2020 to 2025.
The report was published in 2026. The sample covers 343 companies, surveyed between April and June 2025. Most figures are for 2024, as that year’s data was already fully available at the time of the survey.
Market Structure
As of June 2025, 1,700 companies were active in Germany’s gaming industry. 1,200 of those are developers, publishers, and service providers. In 2018, there were 619 product companies.
The number of “core” companies (developers and publishers) in the German market peaked in 2024 at 948, then pulled back to 897 by mid-2025 (-5%), driven by intensifying competition, investor retreat, and reduced government support.
88% of total revenue is generated by companies with foreign parent structures (up from 65% in 2018).
Revenue
Total revenue of the German market grew to €3.73 billion in 2024 (+22% since 2018). The global market grew 36% over the same period.
76% of German gaming companies’ revenue comes from international markets (up from around 50% in 2018).
In 2024, German consumers spent €5.5 billion on games. Products from German companies accounted for just 5.5% of that: €300 million.
3% of companies generated 78% of total revenue.
44% of companies reported losses in 2024 (versus 21% in 2018). 51% expect revenue growth in 2025/26, but only 23% are optimistic about the market as a whole.
A word from our sponsor
Launch a fully branded web shop for your game in just one day with Xsolla’s Storefront - powered by AI for lightning-fast, 5-second site generation and simple drag-and-drop customization. Create native, game-like player experiences at any scale, localize instantly into 26 languages, adapt pricing for every region, and apply geo-restriction controls.
Effortlessly A/B test offers and layouts, go live with one click, and track results with built-in analytics for maximum player engagement and revenue growth.
Webshops are fast with Xsolla - join now!
Labor Market
By the end of 2024, Germany’s gaming industry employed 14,800 people, up 2,500 from 2018 (+20%).
As of 2024, 35% of employees were foreign nationals (27% in 2018, 23% in 2015).
The share of women in gaming companies grew from 25% (2018) to 30% (2024), matching the broader German IT sector. Film and music have higher female representation.
Technical roles (37%) and creative roles (35%) are growing as a share of the workforce; commercial and marketing roles have declined to 22%. All figures are for 2024.
Salaries
Average annual gross salaries at gaming companies: Game Producing - €55,100, Game Programming - €53,900, Game Art - €47,700, Game Design - €47,300.
Senior and lead-level specialists earn significantly more than their junior counterparts.
The industry average salary in 2024 was €53,251, which is 14% below the German economy-wide average of €62,235. Median figures are closer: around €50,000 in games versus €52,159 nationally.
Salaries are heavily dependent on studio size: companies with revenue above €25 million pay average salaries of €61,000 - €82,000, while smaller studios pay €47,000 - €57,000.
Development and Platforms
PC is the primary platform for German developers, with 79% of studios targeting it (up from 60% in 2015). Console interest remains stable. The share of mobile development has dropped from 65% (2015) to 37% (2024). AR/VR, surprisingly, has grown from 3% (2018) to 16% (2024).
❗️The AR/VR growth may well be tied to the development of so-called Serious Games: applications for educational institutions, industrial facilities, and similar use cases.
The share of projects with budgets above €500,000 has grown from 17% to 23%. That said, 65% of titles still cost under €300,000 to make. And as of 2025, those projects are no longer eligible for government funding.
Government Funding
From August 2020 to June 2025, the federal funding program approved financing for 363 games from 252 companies, totaling €183 million. 57% of individual grants were under €300,000.
Every euro invested by the government in 2023 generated €6.50 in added value and €2.50 in taxes and social contributions. A reasonably effective use of funds.
The largest individual funding recipients were Anno 117 (€5.7 million in government funding out of a €22.8 million budget), Foxtrott (€5 million out of €20 million), and TMNT: The Last Ronin (€3.2 million out of €12.6 million).
The top recipients over the five-year period were Ubisoft Blue Byte (€8.3 million), Gaming Minds Studios Paderborn (€7.2 million), and Deck 13 Interactive (€6.1 million).
