Market Share of German-Developed Games Falls Below 6 Per Cent

German-developed games lost further ground in their home market in 2017, according to figures released by the German Games Industry Association (game) on 14 August 2018 alongside its annual report. Titles from Germany captured 5.4 per cent of sales in 2017, down from 6.4 per cent in 2016, equating to roughly 119 million euros within a software market of more than 2.2 billion euros. The calculation excludes hardware, online network charges and hybrid toys. The association uses the decline to argue for immediate implementation of the federal government's planned games fund.

Segment results were mixed but mostly negative. German developers' share of game apps for smartphones and tablets slipped from 4.2 to 3.7 per cent, while online and browser games fell more sharply, from 24 per cent to 17 per cent. The only gain came in PC and console games, a very large segment where German share rose from 0.5 to nearly 1 per cent, driven partly by Piranha Bytes' "Elex" and Deck13's "The Surge."

The broader market performed strongly. The overall German games market, including hardware, grew 15 per cent to over 3.3 billion euros in 2017, crossing the 3-billion-euro threshold for the first time. Consoles and peripherals expanded 26 per cent to 938 million euros, and games software revenue rose 12 per cent, from 2.2 billion to nearly 2.4 billion euros. This contrast between record market growth and shrinking domestic share underpins the association's message.

Managing Director Felix Falk argues that the trend signals an urgent need for action, citing competitive disadvantages relative to other countries and the substantial cultural and economic potential of German-made games. Data derive from GfK Consumer Panel, GfK Entertainment, GfK POS Measurement and App Annie, supplemented by the association's own surveys and projections.