

Central Europe
Smartphones remain the most popular gaming platform among Germans
• 19.5 million Germans play games on smartphones
• PCs back in second place
• German games industry tops the 6-billion-euro mark
Smartphones remain the most popular gaming platform among Germans. Puzzles, brain-teasers or building games: 19.5 million people in Germany use smartphones to play games. That’s 900,000 more gamers than in 2018. These are the figures released today by game – the German Games Industry Association, based on data collected by the market research company GfK. This means smartphones are now Germany’s most popular gaming platform by an even wider margin; they hit the top spot for the first time in 2018. The number of PC users increased as well: in 2019, around 16.3 million people played on computers, which is an increase of 2.9 million gamers compared to 2018. Reasons for this growth include the release of hotly anticipated games such as city-building strategy game ‘Anno 1800’ or the western epic ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’, as well as the launch of new subscription services such as the Xbox Game Pass for PC or Ubisoft’s Uplay+.
By contrast, fewer people used consoles such as the Nintendo Switch, the Sony PlayStation, or the Microsoft Xbox to dive into the digital world in 2019. Approximately 15.9 million people played console games in 2019 – around 800,000 fewer gamers than in the previous year. However, the planned launches of the follow-up consoles to Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One at the end of the year are expected to breathe new life into the console sector. As game announced in March, one third of Germans are greatly looking forward to the release of the coming generation of consoles. Tablets, on the other hand, gained approximately 300,000 additional users in 2019, amounting to a total of 11.3 million gamers. Overall, more than 34 million Germans play computer and video games. The average age is 37.5 years.
Felix Falk, Managing Director of game, says: ‘At home or on the go, alone or with friends: Germans play games all the time and everywhere. At times like these, in particular, we can see why so many people in Germany love games: they’re fun, they bring people together, and they allow us to escape for a little while, even when we’re sitting at home.’
German games market grows by 6 per cent
As already reported by game, the German games market grew by 6 per cent in 2019, to around 6.2 billion euros. Sales of games hardware, including consoles, gaming PCs and accessories, dropped by 2 per cent from the previous year, to 2.4 billion euros. In contrast, the market for games software showed a gain of 11 per cent: in 2019, a total of about 3.9 billion euros was spent on computer and video games and the charges for the respective online services.
About the market data
The current data take into account further dedicated games hardware like gaming PCs and the corresponding accessories, resulting in a larger market size than previously reported. This is true also of the adjusted data for 2018, which accordingly differs from that reported last year.
The market data is based on statistics compiled by the GfK Consumer Panel and App Annie. The methods used by GfK to collect data on Germany’s digital games market are unique in terms of both their quality and their global use. They include an ongoing survey of 25,000 consumers who are representative of the German population as a whole regarding their digital game purchasing and usage habits, as well as a retail panel. The data collection methods provide a unique insight into the German market for computer and video games.
game – the German Games Industry Association:
We are the association of the German games industry. Our members include developers, publishers and many other games industry actors such as esports event organisers, educational establishments and service providers. As a joint organiser of gamescom, we are responsible for the world’s biggest event for computer and video games. We are an expert partner for media and for political and social institutions, and answer questions relating to market development, games culture and media literacy. Our mission is to make Germany the best games location.
Central Europe
Change of Chairmanship in the GGL Board of Directors as of 1 July 2025

On the occasion of the four-year anniversary of the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) on 1 July 2025, Sandro Kirchner, State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration, has taken over the chairmanship of the GGL Administrative Board, succeeding Reiner Moser, Head of Office in the Ministry of the Interior, for Digitalisation and Municipalities for Baden-Württemberg.
During Reiner Moser’s term as Chairman of the Board of Directors, the GGL further established itself as a reliable institution for the supervision and monitoring of the online gambling market.
“The online gambling market has developed rapidly in recent years. The GGL has met the resulting challenges with great commitment and can already demonstrate remarkable results both in combating illegal gambling and in regulating and supervising the legal market. The exchange between the states and the GGL is always trusting and results-oriented. I would like to sincerely thank the Board of Directors and all GGL employees for this constructive cooperation over the past year,” said Head of Department Moser.
State Secretary Kirchner takes over the chairmanship at a time when the GGL is pursuing ambitious goals, including stronger international networking, particularly to further curb the illegal gambling market.
“The consistent prosecution of illegal offerings and player protection are my highest priorities. The work of the GGL must continue to be significantly geared towards ensuring that the business model of illegal gambling is not profitable in Germany,” said Sandro Kirchner.
With regard to his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, he added: “I look forward to continuing the successful work of everyone involved over the past four years. We will certainly continue to face many challenges. However, I believe the GGL is well positioned to achieve this.”
The Board of Directors is the supervisory and steering body of the GGL. It consists of the heads of departments or state secretaries of the ministries responsible for gaming supervision in the 16 member states. The chair of the Board of Directors rotates annually on July 1st in alphabetical order of the member states.
The post Change of Chairmanship in the GGL Board of Directors as of 1 July 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Gaming in Germany Conference returns to Berlin November 11, 2025

Gaming in Europe is pleased to announce that the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference will take place on November 11, 2025, in Berlin.
The Gaming in Germany Conference is an annual event for everyone who is professionally involved in Germany’s regulated online gambling industry. The conference will cover topics such as regulatory developments, (black) market growth, player protection, marketing, compliance, and much more.
Confirmed speakers
Although the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference is still some time away, we have already confirmed the following speakers:
- Dr. Jörg Hofmann, Senior Partner, Melchers Law
- Senior GGL representative
- Mathias Dahms, President, DSWV
- Dr. Dirk Quermann, President, DOCV
- Christian Heins, Director iGaming, Tipico
- Josh Hodgson, COO, H2 Gambling Capital
Don’t miss it. Save the date!
Willem van Oort, founder of Gaming in Germany said: “We are very happy that we have received commitments from major stakeholders in Germany’s regulated gambling market to speak at our event. As always, we aim to connect the industry with regulatory and social stakeholders, and vice versa. This year, major topics of discussion will be the true size of Germany’s regulated market, the increasing popularity of the black market, as well as the upcoming evaluation of the 2021 State Gambling Treaty. I am certain there will be plenty to discuss.”
Call for speakers
If you would like to share your insights, success story, innovation, or cautionary tale, please consider applying for a speaker slot at the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference by sending an email to [email protected].
Your voice matters, and we can’t wait to hear from you!
The post Gaming in Germany Conference returns to Berlin November 11, 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Turnover of Legal Gambling Market in Hungary Increases

The Regulated Activities Supervisory Authority (SZTFH) has announced that the turnover of the legal gambling market in Hungary has increased.
The SZTFH and its predecessor have been blocking illegal gambling websites since 2014, preventing them from being accessible to Hungarian players. Thanks to the more than two thousand blockings ordered so far in 2024 and 2025, the traffic and turnover of the legal market is sharply increasing compared to the total market, which can be considered a significant improvement compared to the illegal market presence in previous years.
One of the main goals of the SZTFH is to take action against websites offering illegal online gambling that are not licensed in Hungary and the prohibited advertising sites that promote them, and to whitewash the Hungarian online gambling market. In the past two years, several legislative changes have come into force that have resulted in the acceleration and extension of the blocking procedure to advertising and contributing sites, and have created the opportunity to track and immediately block illegal sites that are constantly jumping to new domain names every day in order to evade the authority’s measures. Thanks to the change in the legal environment and the intensive action of the Authority, the number of visits to illegal gambling sites has now decreased significantly.
In the case of services offered by organisers who are not licensed to organise gambling in Hungary, the Authority has no possibility to oblige the gambling organiser to comply with the guarantee rules protecting the interests of the players, and the claim for the payment of the prize cannot be enforced before a Hungarian court. Gambling organisers who are not licensed by the Authority also violate the interests of the Hungarian State in the economic activity of organising and operating gambling. In addition to the above, by not joining the player protection register kept by the Authority, which prevents players who have been excluded from gambling voluntarily or by a court from participating in gambling, they also constitute an obstacle to the effective enforcement of goals related to player protection.
The SZTFH is committed to the elimination of illegal gambling and the whitening and increasing the competitiveness of the Hungarian gambling market in order to protect the interests of Hungarian players, and therefore will continue its intensive blocking activities with great effort and the use of innovative solutions in the future. Players can find out about the gambling organizers licensed in Hungary and the illegal sites blocked by the Authority on the Authority’s website.
The post Turnover of Legal Gambling Market in Hungary Increases appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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