German government to establish €50 million game fund in 2019

The German government has allocated €50 million of its 2019 budget for the creation of a games fund, the first time the country's industry has been promoted on the federal level.

The new fund will be managed by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and has been agreed by the parties in the German coalition government. Rüdiger Kruse MdB of the Budget Committee described game development as "an engine for the creative industry - both economically and artistically."

Felix Falk, managing director of the German trade body game, called the €50 million fund "a historic step for Germany as a location for games." With the support of the government, he said, Germany will have an opportunity to catch up to countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Canada,

Falk highlighted that government initiatives in those countries can make certain production costs up to 30% cheaper than in Germany. The lack of big, popular games made in Germany mean that, in every €100 spent on games in the country, only €6 euros were spent on locally made products.

This is the second big win for the German games industry this year. In August, longstanding restrictions on the use of Nazi symbols and imagery in games were relaxed, bringing the treatment of games into line with other forms of entertainment media.