• All ‘Press Start’ grant holders establish their own companies
  • The 132 grant recipients founded 75 new games development studios in Germany
  • 100 per cent founding rate underscores the great success of ‘Press Start’ as a specific funding instrument for companies in the games industry

Berlin, 11 February 2026: Thanks to the ‘Press Start: Games Founding Grant’, the games industry in Germany has grown by 75 companies. All recipients of the founding grant successfully established their studios at the turn of the year. The 132 grant recipients are spread across 75 studios. Sixty-four of these companies were founded in 2025 during the active grant period, while 11 had already completed the formal founding process before the start of the programme. Their games range from colourful cozy games and city-building games to an app that allows players to create their own digital scavenger hunts. ‘Press Start: Games Founding Grant’ is organised and implemented by the Foundation for Digital Games Culture in cooperation with game – The German Games Industry Association. The foundation is responsible for the education and networking programme. ‘Press Start’ is funded by the German Federal Government. 

“The incredible founding rate of 100 per cent underscores the unique success of ‘Press Start’ and shows how effective such a targeted programme for promoting start-ups in the games industry is,” says game Managing Director Felix Falk. “The programme’s approach of providing ambitious game developers with the resources and know-how they need to advance their businesses and dare to start their own companies is proving highly successful. This is where the next generation of the German games industry is being created. It also sends an important signal to the federal government that this first-of-its-kind programme is paying off and should definitely be continued in order to promote Germany as a games location in the long term.” 

Nandita Wegehaupt, Managing Director of the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, adds: “‘Press Start’ illustrates: Founding a business is something you can learn! In addition to our education and networking programme, the grant holders found the personal mentoring provided by industry professionals to be a great asset to their projects. The fact that all of them have now taken the courageous step of founding their own businesses proves that the diversity of ideas among young creative talent benefits greatly from the experience of seasoned industry experts. It is also inspiring to see how many industry professionals are taking responsibility for the next generation.” 

Overview of all games studios by and with ‘Press Start’ grant holders: 

  • 4bpm (Michelstadt, Hesse) 
  • Amberdive Interactive (Hamburg)
  • Aritudo Games (Nordleda, Lower Saxony) 
  • Ashgard Games (Bernburg [Saale], Saxony-Anhalt)
  • Binary Bacteria (Halle [Saale], Saxony-Anhalt) 
  • Bitesized Games (Neuenbürg, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • Borb Games (Kelkheim, Hesse) 
  • Brainlag Games (Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Chilipixel Games (Langensendelbach, Bavaria) 
  • Darya Studios (Berlin) 
  • Data Illusion Studios (Warstein-Allagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Deep Sky (Berlin) 
  • Digipiction (Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • DK Interactive (Hamburg) 
  • Dobiq Games (Berlin) 
  • Echolox Interactive (Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Eigenlicht Studio (Darmstadt, Hesse)  
  • Emberflight Games (Elchingen, Bavaria) 
  • Felix Janßen (Otzberg, Hesse) 
  • Frauma (Deggendorf, Bavaria) 
  • Godcomplex Games (Hamburg) 
  • Honeybeak (Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • Halfcooked Games (Berlin) 
  • Hurdy-Gurdy Games (Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Infinite Retries Interactive (Berlin) 
  • Introverse Interactive (Berlin) 
  • Invocatus (Dresden, Saxony) 
  • Irregular Human (Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Katapult Games (Berlin) 
  • Krabbenkutter Games (Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Kranich Games UG (Schwaigern, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • Leree Studios (Hamburg) 
  • Level Blue (Berlin) 
  • Level Lab (Leipzig, Saxony) 
  • Ley Lore (Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • Lightbeam (Berlin) 
  • Liney Games (Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein) 
  • Lost Lantern Studio (Quickborn, Schleswig-Holstein) 
  • Lowpolis (Braunschweig, Lower Saxony) 
  • Meander Interactive (Berlin) 
  • Midnight Muse Games (Berlin) 
  • Mitomito Studio (Munich, Bavaria) 
  • MixedMoonGames (Sülzetal, Saxony -Anhalt) 
  • Morse Morse Games (Hamburg) 
  • Mouse Clique (Telgte, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Mucks! Games (Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • Neptun Interactive (Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Omnipolar Studio (Munich, Bavaria) 
  • OneManIndie (Norden, Lower Saxony) 
  • Peas & Quiet Games (Hamburg) 
  • Pixel Coast Games (Hamburg) 
  • Prismantium (Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Pseudoscience Interactive (Hamburg) 
  • SandSide Studio (Jettingen, Baden-Württemberg) 
  • Screen Play Studio (Berlin) 
  • Skaldery Games (Berlin) 
  • SleepDrift (Leipzig, Saxony) 
  • Society for Occult Cybernetics (Hamburg) 
  • Stekosaurus (Halle [Saale], Saxony-Anhalt) 
  • Stilbruch Games (Stolberg, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Studio Gutheil (Hamburg) 
  • Studio Nebeltal (Schwanheide, Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania) 
  • Studio Umluft (Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein) 
  • Super Fantasy Games (Hannover, Lower Saxony) 
  • Super Peperoni Allstars (Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Super Super Soft (Stuhr, Lower Saxony) 
  • The Roof Interactive (Berlin) 
  • Tinker Games (Berlin) 
  • Traveller’s Box (Dresden, Saxony) 
  • Triflgard (Hamburg) 
  • Triple Cursed Studio (Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia) 
  • Twinleaf Studio (Berlin) 
  • Waldkind Studio (Norden, Lower Saxony) 
  • Whispergrove Interactive (Leipzig, Saxony) 
  • Witchmade (Hamburg) 

More background information and materials about the studios and their founders can be found at:  https://games-stipendium.de/en/teams/