{"id":35217,"date":"2026-02-11T12:20:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/games-stipendium.de\/?p=35217"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:03:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T12:03:51","slug":"press-start-games-grant-unleashes-a-wave-of-new-games-studios-across-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/games-stipendium.de\/en\/press-start-games-grant-unleashes-a-wave-of-new-games-studios-across-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Press Start\u2019 Games Grant unleashes a wave of new games studios across Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berlin, 11 February 2026: Thanks to the \u2018Press Start: Games Founding Grant\u2019, the games industry in Germany has grown by 75 companies. All recipients of the founding grant successfully\u00a0established\u00a0their 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\u00a0grant\u00a0period, while 11 had already completed the formal founding process before the\u00a0start of the programme. Their games range from colourful\u00a0cozy\u00a0games and\u00a0city-building games\u00a0to an app that allows\u00a0players\u00a0to create their own digital scavenger hunts. \u2018Press Start: Games Founding Grant\u2019 is organised and implemented by the Foundation for Digital Games Culture in cooperation with game \u2013\u00a0The German Games Industry Association. The foundation\u00a0is responsible for\u00a0the education and networking programme.\u00a0\u2018Press Start\u2019\u00a0is funded by the German\u00a0Federal\u00a0Government.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe incredible\u00a0founding\u00a0rate of 100 per cent underscores the unique success of \u2018Press Start\u2019 and shows how effective such a targeted programme for promoting start-ups in the games\u00a0industry\u00a0is,\u201d says game Managing Director Felix Falk. \u201cThe programme’s approach of providing ambitious game developers with the resources and\u00a0know-how\u00a0they need to advance\u00a0their businesses\u00a0and dare to start their own\u00a0companies\u00a0is proving\u00a0highly successful. This is where the next generation of the\u00a0German\u00a0games 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\u00a0definitely be\u00a0continued\u00a0in order to\u00a0promote Germany as a\u00a0games\u00a0location in the long term.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nandita Wegehaupt, Managing Director of the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, adds: “\u2018Press Start\u2019\u00a0illustrates:\u00a0Founding a business is something you can learn! In addition to our education and networking programme, the grant holders\u00a0found\u00a0the 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\u00a0greatly from\u00a0the experience of seasoned industry experts. It is also inspiring to see how many industry professionals are taking responsibility for the next generation.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overview of all\u00a0games\u00a0studios by and with \u2018Press Start\u2019 grant holders:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n