Die Games-Industrie in Bayern

A 2018 study commissioned by the Bavarian employers' association vbw and conducted by the Hamburg Media School provides the first reliable, survey-based portrait of Bavaria's games industry, correcting an earlier 2013 Goldmedia estimate that had overstated the market by including many service providers. Its core market in 2015 comprised 118 companies, roughly 80 of them developers, publishers, distributors and platform operators, generating about €516 million in revenue. This represented around 18% of Germany's €2.87 billion total, placing Bavaria third nationally behind Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia. The sector employed about 1,500 people, roughly 11% of the national games workforce.

The industry is dominated by small, owner-managed firms, most of them GmbHs or UGs, with about 76% operating mainly as developers and many concentrated around Munich, which hosts roughly 90 of the companies. Firms are young, averaging about eight years in age. Ownership is a defining feature: around 78% of revenue comes from subsidiaries of foreign or domestic parent companies, largely publishers. Profitability matched the national average at 7.3%, though about a third of firms posted losses, and roughly 25% of revenue was generated abroad. Financing relied heavily on internal investment (65%), with public funding a minor share of revenue, about 1.9%, though state support rose sharply toward 2018.

The study finds a workforce that is highly qualified, with over 90% holding a degree or vocational training, and many firms recruiting foreign talent because German games programs are relatively new. Bavaria rates favorably on state funding and training relative to other states, yet it faces weaknesses in rents, personnel costs and the absence of "flagship" companies and experienced senior developers. Compared internationally, Bavaria's public production funding trails France, Britain and Québec, and the report concludes that games expertise is increasingly spilling into digitalization consulting, serious games and other sectors.