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Slower workforce growth and fewer new companies: the upward trend in the German games industry is weakening

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1 year ago

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• Number of German game companies grows by 4 per cent in twelve months
• Slowed growth pace: employment figures at developers and publishers up 3.5 per cent
• German games industry plus extended game labour market provides more than 30,000 jobs
 
The strong upward trend seen in the German games industry in recent years is now weakening significantly. After registering 15 per cent growth a year ago, the number of game companies increased by just 4 per cent in the past twelve months, to a total of 948 companies developing and publishing computer and video games in Germany. This was announced today by game – The German Games Industry Association on the basis of data from gamesmap.de in cooperation with Goldmedia. In particular, the number of companies that exclusively develop games is rising, with 6 per cent growth in the past year bringing the figure to 477 currently. A further 52 companies in Germany specialise exclusively in publishing video games and 419 are active in both game development and publishing. This amounts to a 52 per cent overall increase in the number of game companies in Germany since 2020.
Employee numbers at German game companies showed continued growth, but at only half the pace of the previous year. The number of employees at game development studios and publishers rose to 12,408 over the past twelve months, up around 3.5 per cent from last year’s figure of 11,992. This compares with 7 per cent growth recorded from 2022 to 2023. At first glance, the weakened yet still positive trend appears contradictory against the backdrop of the current overall decline in investment momentum and major waves of consolidation in the international games industry. While the current consolidation wave has indeed affected German game companies, its impact here has been less pronounced than in general internationally. One reason for this is that many game companies in Germany are currently still in the midst of projects made possible by federal games funding, which has served as a stabilising factor for the industry as a whole. In addition to the workforce in publishing and development, an estimated further 20,000 people are employed in the area of games. The games industry thus provides jobs for over 30,000 people in Germany, including skilled professionals in educational institutions, the media and the public and commercial sectors.
‘Games funding plays a decisive role in this. Although the on-going application freeze for the federal games funding has hampered the development of new projects for over a year now, the fact that many German studios were still in the middle of federally funded projects gave them stability. However, if the German government doesn’t ensure funding budgets at an internationally comparable level soon, the prospects for game companies will be all the more unclear. Along with the consolidation wave,’ he continues, ‘the current unpredictable and non-competitive framework conditions in Germany have now slowed the strong growth of recent years. The German government must finally make the promised funds available and return to the path of an ambitious policy of single-source game funding, as it announced in its latest growth initiative.’
About the data:
The data is drawn from a survey carried out by Goldmedia on the basis of entries on gamesmap.de. It was conducted on behalf of game – The German Games Industry Association for the period ending on 14 June 2024.

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Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow

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July 24, 2025

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Scientific Games will continue to bring exciting instant scratchcard games to Polish National Lottery players through a new agreement with Totalizator Sportowy. Celebrating the instant lottery’s 25th anniversary last year, Totalizator Sportowy is among the top five performing instant game lotteries in Europe (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac). The world’s largest lottery games company has provided scratchcards to Totalizator Sportowy for more than 20 years, with scratchcard game sales in Poland growing by 20% over the past three years (2022 to 2025).

“Our goal is to give our players entertaining scratchcard experiences while responsibly generating maximum proceeds for Polish sport and culture. We are delighted to continue working with Scientific Games to offer fun, modern scratch experiences,” said Katarzyna Woznica-Borkowska, Manager of Instant Products for Totalizator Sportowy.

Most recently, Scientific Games collaborated with Totalizator Sportowy to offer Polish players the PLN30 GIGA 7 game produced with the company’s advanced Dimension technology, which enhances the play experience with three-dimensional, reflection-at-different-angle refractions above and below the game graphics.

Currently, the company provides instant games to 110 government-regulated lotteries worldwide, including more than 50 European lotteries.

“Scientific Games is honored to continue our longtime relationship with Totalizator Sportowy that we have built across two decades,” said Paul Dures, Lottery Sales Director EMEA for Scientific Games. “We look forward to continuing our work to drive meaningful growth for the scratchcard games in Poland creating more innovative and attractive games for players.”

With products that generate more than 70% of global instant game retail sales, Scientific Games is the world’s largest instant games creator, producer and services provider, and the primary provider to nine of the Top 10 performing instant game lotteries in the world (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac).

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Number of companies and employees in German games industry falls for first time in years

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1 week ago

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July 23, 2025

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After years of growth, the number of companies and employees in the German games industry declined in 2025. This was announced today by game – The German Games Industry Association on the basis of data from gamesmap.de in cooperation with Goldmedia. According to the data, the number of companies in Germany that develop and/or publish games has dropped by 4 per cent within the past year, to 910. The boom in start-ups in the games sector, which was set in motion by the introduction of the German Federal Games Funding Programme in 2020, has now completely subsided. Last year’s figures already indicated a clear slowdown. This decline was due in particular to the consolidation of the global games market and the unreliable availability of games funding to date in Germany.

Three times since 2020, there have been months-long suspensions placed on funding applications. Despite the newly registered drop, the number of companies has risen by 46 per cent overall since the initial start of the games funding programme in 2020. Of the 910 present companies, 454 work exclusively in game development and 52 exclusively as publishers. The remaining 404 companies are active in both the development and publishing of games.

‘Last year was another very difficult one for the German games industry,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game. ‘Germany’s international competitiveness was further decreased by the ongoing flip-flopping of the games funding policy, which ran right into the consolidation wave that swept the global games sector. Fortunately, the new federal government has already taken the necessary steps to level the playing field for companies in this country. The future funding budget is to be increased and thus adjusted to actual needs, and applications can be submitted from August onwards. These are crucial growth impulses that are urgently needed. The additional funds will not only give companies more planning security, but also time to implement additional tax breaks for games, as set out in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD. The improved conditions will finally give games companies a boost, which will hopefully soon be reflected in more start-ups and the creation of new jobs.’

The number of employees at games companies in Germany has also declined over the last year. Whereas game developers and publishers employed 12,408 workers in 2024, the current figure stands at just 12,134 – a drop of 2 per cent. As with the number of companies, the employee numbers had previously shown strong growth since the introduction of the games funding programme at the federal level: a rise of 23 per cent from 2020 to 2024. The recent decline indicates that the current conditions for the games industry, which offer limited scope for planning due to the repeated funding application stoppages and significant current funding restrictions, are having an impact on the job market. A year ago, there were still more companies with ongoing projects that were internationally competitive thanks to funding at levels comparable to those in other countries – financing that had stabilised Germany’s game sector, despite the global consolidation wave and a lack of funding certainty for the industry here. The game industry secures a total of over 30,000 jobs in Germany. In addition to jobs in development and publishing, these include, for example, skilled professionals in educational institutions, the media and the public and commercial sectors.

About the data
The data is drawn from a survey carried out by Goldmedia on the basis of entries on gamesmap.de. It was conducted on behalf of game – The German Games Industry Association for the period ending on 12 May 2025.

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Pro Selection – next generation casino multigame from Promatic Group

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July 22, 2025

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Promatic Group, a Polish manufacturer of slot machines and system solutions for the gaming industry, is launching a new collection of slots dedicated to casino customers – the Pro Selection multigame. The first devices have already been certified in Poland and stood in casinos in Warsaw and Krakow. 

 

One platform, up to 55 games

Pro Selection is software with a collection of as many as 55 different titles, covering the full functional and stylistic range of games from the Polish company’s portfolio. Players will find both classic “fruits” games – traditional and simple in form – and modern adventure games, based on an elaborate narrative and unique logics. Branded productions that stand out for their original creations and high graphic quality are also worthy of special attention.

“In Pro Selection, we wanted to include our best titles and those that have proven themselves in both the land-based and online slot segments. That’s why players will find classics such as Miss Joker, one of the most popular games at Poland’s only legal online casino, or 81 Show, a popular hat game. There are also online hits of recent months such as Pixel Fruits and Ale Cool Bober. On top of that, we have added titles that have so far only been available in land-based slot machines and have been great in them, namely Golden Train, Aladdin or Magic Ladybird Mega,” says Piotr Fedak, CEO of Promatic. – “As for branded productions, games with Mariusz Pudzianowski remain a hit, and not only in Poland”, he adds.

 

Variability and mathematics for every player

One of the important features of Multigame Pro Selection is the mathematical diversity of the games available in it. The collection offers games with varying levels of volatility – from low to very high (on a scale of 1 to 5 stars). As a result, the package meets the needs of both enthusiasts of long session play with frequent, smaller wins, and players looking for higher risk and high wins.

Also new to Pro Selection is a revamped user interface. An intuitive lobby, it provides quick access to all titles, convenient filtering and easy navigation – both from the touch screen and traditional buttons. This is part of software that meets the highest industry technical standards and has been certified by a Polish testing laboratory accredited by the Minister of Finance as authorized to test gaming machines.

“As a product dedicated to casinos, i.e. the most demanding B2B customers, Pro Selection is designed to be fully integrated with the SAS protocol, which is standard in this market, giving compatibility with various casino management systems and providing full operational and billing transparency. It’s a product that is ready for deployment in casino environments where reliability and control are key,” explains Piotr Fedak. – We strive to ensure that Pro Selection’s multigame always goes hand in hand with our proprietary Royal Sevens Jackpot progressive jackpot system, which in itself is a huge asset and player magnet, Fedak adds.

 

Ease of maintenance and energy efficiency

Pro Selection software is available exclusively on the latest casino-class slot machines from Promatic Group – that is, the Casino 27 and PRO VIP 27 and 32 cabinets These are top-quality terminals equipped with HD monitors, state-of-the-art sound systems and RGB lighting to enhance the gaming atmosphere.

“Thanks to their modular design and intuitive service menus, our multigames are virtually maintenance-free – that is, technical service friendly. Interestingly also, our energy efficiency studies have shown that compared to the competition, Promatic machines consume significantly less energy,” says Piotr Fedak. – At the moment Pro Selection is fully certified for the Polish market, and work is already underway to obtain licenses for the Czech Republic, Slovakia where our goal is to implement this 100% Polish product in those very markets, says Piotr Fedak.

 

About Promatic Group

Promatic Group is a Polish company with more than 28 years of experience in the gambling industry, specializing in the production of gaming machines and providing dedicated software for gaming rooms and casinos, both land-based and online. The company’s headquarters and factory are located in Warsaw and Jelenia Gora.

In Poland, Promatic’s devices can be found in Totalizator Sportowy’s legal gaming salons, casinos of the WinCasino chain and selected Casinos Poland locations. The company also operates in Latin American and African markets.

Promatic Group is certified to ISO 27001 for information security and ISO 9001 for slot machine manufacturing quality.

Since 2021, the company has also been developing its online gaming segment under the Promatic Games brand, offering online slots in regulated markets in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It also holds B2B licenses issued by regulators in Romania (ONJN) and Malta (MGA) and plans to enter more than a dozen new markets in the next few months.

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