vbw – Vereinigung der Bayerischen Wirtschaft

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.

• Bavaria's core games market in 2015 comprised 118 companies (about 80 developers, publishers, distributors and platform operators) generating roughly €516 million, about 18% of Germany's €2.87 billion total and third nationally behind Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia.
• The 2018 Hamburg Media School study for the vbw provides a survey-based portrait that corrects an earlier 2013 Goldmedia estimate, which had overstated the market by counting many service providers.
• The sector is dominated by small, young, owner-managed firms (mostly GmbHs or UGs, averaging about eight years in age), with about 76% operating mainly as developers and roughly 90 companies concentrated around Munich.