Digital Economy Mar 21, 2017

Gaming industry is topping up: more funding through FFF Bayern

Good news for all gaming fans: the Bavarian games industry can look forward to more funding – and from two sources at the same time.

The good news is hardly surprising, at the end of the day more than half the sales in the German games industry are generated in Bavaria. The Free State of Bavaria particularly stands out when it comes to innovation in the basic technologies, for example in virtual reality. The state has therefore already been supporting the industry with EUR 460,000 a year in funds since 2009, which are managed through the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern.

 

As a result the FFF has the highest funding sum in Germany that is explicitly designated for games, or to be more precise more than EUR 1.31 million for this year and another EUR 1.94 million for 2018.

 

More opportunities for gaming start-ups

 

Ilse Aigner, State Minister for Economic Affairs, Media, Energy and Technology, emphasises the importance of the industry for Bavaria as a business location: “Our games industry has great potential. We have lots of large, medium and small enterprises here which produce outstanding creative and technological work. Many Bavarian universities offer renowned courses in games – superbly trained young talent is already knocking on the door. Major international corporations are establishing themselves in Bavaria and expect our location’s expertise as suppliers of games and apps. In the meantime, film-makers and book publishers are also developing computer games. Our expanded games funding will offer more opportunities to this industry, which is growing in all directions.”

 

And this is how gaming start-ups can access funding: the submission dates for funding applications have also been increased from two to three so that applicants for 2017 can submit their applications in time on 7 March, 6 June and 10 October. The games awards committee then decides on the approval and distribution of funds - basically any educationally valuable, non-violent games concepts are eligible for funding.

 

Media services for funded projects

 

The FFF has also been cooperating with Computec Media GmbH, which provides media services, since 2015. As announced in mid-February, the value of media services is increasing from EUR 2 to 3.3 million. Every one of the FFF-funded gaming projects basically qualifies for the services offered by Computec. A committee decides on the amount of individual funding, whose upper limit increases from EUR 200,000 per project to EUR 400,000 with the decision.

With the current increase in funding for the gaming industry, Bavaria is once again more than making the grade as an innovative location, which is actively contributing to the growth of promising industries. The fact that the games industry funding is not an end in itself but also spurs on other industries in Bavaria is proved among other things by GamifyCon, which is taking place in Munich on 9 March. The conference shows how gamification can also be used for other industries’ business objectives.