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Political guests of honour open gamescom 2021

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Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. saw the official kick-off: gamescom 2021 was opened by the political guests of honour. The coronavirus pandemic means that this year’s gamescom is being held entirely online, as was last year’s. The official political opening ceremony was also live-streamed. The show lasted around half an hour and was presented from the studio by TV host Katrin Neumann. Ms Neumann spoke to Felix Falk, the Managing Director of game – the German Games Industry Association, which is a joint organiser of gamescom, in between the welcome addresses from the political guests of honour. These included Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure; Dorothee Bär, Minister of State for Digitalisation; Armin Laschet, Minister-President of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia; as well as Henriette Reker, the Mayor of Cologne and Chairwoman of the Koelnmesse Supervisory Board, and COO of Koelnmesse Oliver Frese. In their welcome addresses, the political guests of honour embraced this year’s motto of ‘Games: The New Normal’ as they described the huge potential of games for Germany and explained the need to leverage this even further in future. Despite the extensive online programme of gamescom, the hope was expressed that next year could again be celebrated in Cologne with hundreds of thousands of visitors.

The video of the gamescom 2021 political opening ceremony can be watched on demand on the content hub ‘gamescom now’: now.gamescom.global

Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure: ‘As the world’s biggest games event, gamescom is a valuable showcase. We want to build on that and make up lost ground in future as a development location on the international stage. Last year, at this very place, I gave the green light for the second phase of our games funding programme. Since then, the German government has provided millions of euros to support development studios in the games industry. That’s a real breakthrough. As things stand today, funding of 40 million euros has been approved – and we’re looking forward to receiving more applications. As well as the financial aspect, we have also overhauled our strategy and pooled the expertise to form a dedicated games unit within our Ministry. I am a firm believer that we can benefit from the innovative power of the games industry in many areas – be that the education sector, industry and science or simply in our leisure time.’

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Dorothee Bär, Minister of State for Digitalisation within the federal government: ‘The motto of gamescom 2021 sums it up: games are the new normal. They have helped us stay in touch with friends and family during the coronavirus phase. Thank goodness we had games during this period! But games aren’t just the new normal as an entertainment medium, but also in the business, medical and education sectors. For example, increasing numbers of companies are “gamifying” their products– from fitness apps through cars up to videoconferencing tools. The deployment of games in education is particularly exciting: the motivation to play has a direct effect on learning success, not only for children, but also in further education and professional development. Games thus harbour immense innovative power that is demonstrated not least by the digital gamescom itself, and we need to exploit this potential even more rigorously. And that’s why we want to give the games sector in Germany even more support to become one of the best locations in the world. With the new games strategy, we have created an excellent basis for the coming years.’

Armin Laschet, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia: ‘gamescom is a shining example of the strong social component of computer and video games, which has helped many people around the world through the coronavirus pandemic. This form of community is a fundamental building block of our society. The games industry also has enormous economic and social potential – both in the classical development of games and also beyond. The best example of this is in the field of digital education: using fun as a way of learning is part of human nature, which is why we need to be better at exploiting the available opportunities and not be afraid of blazing new trails. Here, too, the games industry will play an important role in future. Because of this huge potential, we need to keep working to improve the framework conditions for the games industry. For that reason, in North Rhine-Westphalia we have set ourselves the goal of wanting to become Germany’s top location for computer and video games some years ago. We also need this clear objective at national level in Germany so we can be the best among the international competition.’

Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – the German Games Industry Association, the joint organiser of gamescom, says: ‘gamescom is finally getting started with days full of announcements, news and shows that the fans are eagerly awaiting. Along with our partners, we are creating an event where millions of players around the world will again be able to celebrate the best games out there. However, at the same time, with the German parliamentary elections on the horizon, we don’t just want to talk about games at this gamescom, but also about what is the right games and digital policy for Germany. For that reason, I am especially pleased that we will be welcoming numerous top politicians not only during the political opening ceremony, but also at the Debatt(l)e Royale on Friday. Our intention with such formats is to give the younger generation above all an adequate opportunity to form an opinion, and to send out a clear message: go out and vote!’

Henriette Reker, mayor of the City of Cologne and chairwoman of the supervisory board of Koelnmesse: ‘I am really enthusiastic about what the entire Koelnmesse, the gamescom team, the association game and all partners created together for the second time in a row. This is exactly the innovative spirit and courage we need to move forward as a society in these challenging times. At the same time, I can hardly wait to see the numerous gamers back in town. First, because they always bring a very special flair with them and the whole city is infected by their enthusiasm. Second, because Cologne benefits from gamescom and its fans on many levels: Gastronomy, hotels and retail are just a few of the sectors that get an enormous boost during trade fair times.’

Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse: ‘For the second year in a row, gamescom 2021 will take place purely digitally. But of course we have not been idle since last year and have made huge progress with gamescom 2021 and its digital offerings! Whether it’s our shows, our content hub gamescom now, or community activities like gamescom EPIX – everywhere we’ve taken advantage of the experiences of the last year and a half and further improved our program. Because our objective is clear: We want to be in pole position not only in the trade fair business in general, but also with regard to digital events in the future!’

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Gaming in Germany Conference returns to Berlin November 11, 2025

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Gaming in Europe is pleased to announce that the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference will take place on November 11, 2025, in Berlin.

The Gaming in Germany Conference is an annual event for everyone who is professionally involved in Germany’s regulated online gambling industry. The conference will cover topics such as regulatory developments, (black) market growth, player protection, marketing, compliance, and much more.

Confirmed speakers

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Although the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference is still some time away, we have already confirmed the following speakers:

  • Dr. Jörg Hofmann, Senior Partner, Melchers Law
  • Senior GGL representative
  • Mathias Dahms, President, DSWV
  • Dr. Dirk Quermann, President, DOCV
  • Christian Heins, Director iGaming, Tipico
  • Josh Hodgson, COO, H2 Gambling Capital

Don’t miss it. Save the date!

Willem van Oort, founder of Gaming in Germany said: “We are very happy that we have received commitments from major stakeholders in Germany’s regulated gambling market to speak at our event. As always, we aim to connect the industry with regulatory and social stakeholders, and vice versa. This year, major topics of discussion will be the true size of Germany’s regulated market, the increasing popularity of the black market, as well as the upcoming evaluation of the 2021 State Gambling Treaty. I am certain there will be plenty to discuss.”

Call for speakers

If you would like to share your insights, success story, innovation, or cautionary tale, please consider applying for a speaker slot at the 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference by sending an email to [email protected].

Your voice matters, and we can’t wait to hear from you!

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The post Gaming in Germany Conference returns to Berlin November 11, 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Change of Chairmanship in the GGL Board of Directors as of 1 July 2025

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On the occasion of the four-year anniversary of the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) on 1 July 2025, Sandro Kirchner, State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration, has taken over the chairmanship of the GGL Administrative Board, succeeding Reiner Moser, Head of Office in the Ministry of the Interior, for Digitalisation and Municipalities for Baden-Württemberg.

During Reiner Moser’s term as Chairman of the Board of Directors, the GGL further established itself as a reliable institution for the supervision and monitoring of the online gambling market.

“The online gambling market has developed rapidly in recent years. The GGL has met the resulting challenges with great commitment and can already demonstrate remarkable results both in combating illegal gambling and in regulating and supervising the legal market. The exchange between the states and the GGL is always trusting and results-oriented. I would like to sincerely thank the Board of Directors and all GGL employees for this constructive cooperation over the past year,” said Head of Department Moser.

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State Secretary Kirchner takes over the chairmanship at a time when the GGL is pursuing ambitious goals, including stronger international networking, particularly to further curb the illegal gambling market.

“The consistent prosecution of illegal offerings and player protection are my highest priorities. The work of the GGL must continue to be significantly geared towards ensuring that the business model of illegal gambling is not profitable in Germany,” said Sandro Kirchner.

With regard to his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, he added: “I look forward to continuing the successful work of everyone involved over the past four years. We will certainly continue to face many challenges. However, I believe the GGL is well positioned to achieve this.”

The Board of Directors is the supervisory and steering body of the GGL. It consists of the heads of departments or state secretaries of the ministries responsible for gaming supervision in the 16 member states. The chair of the Board of Directors rotates annually on July 1st in alphabetical order of the member states.

The post Change of Chairmanship in the GGL Board of Directors as of 1 July 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Turnover of Legal Gambling Market in Hungary Increases

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The Regulated Activities Supervisory Authority (SZTFH) has announced that the turnover of the legal gambling market in Hungary has increased.

The SZTFH and its predecessor have been blocking illegal gambling websites since 2014, preventing them from being accessible to Hungarian players. Thanks to the more than two thousand blockings ordered so far in 2024 and 2025, the traffic and turnover of the legal market is sharply increasing compared to the total market, which can be considered a significant improvement compared to the illegal market presence in previous years.

One of the main goals of the SZTFH is to take action against websites offering illegal online gambling that are not licensed in Hungary and the prohibited advertising sites that promote them, and to whitewash the Hungarian online gambling market. In the past two years, several legislative changes have come into force that have resulted in the acceleration and extension of the blocking procedure to advertising and contributing sites, and have created the opportunity to track and immediately block illegal sites that are constantly jumping to new domain names every day in order to evade the authority’s measures. Thanks to the change in the legal environment and the intensive action of the Authority, the number of visits to illegal gambling sites has now decreased significantly.

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In the case of services offered by organisers who are not licensed to organise gambling in Hungary, the Authority has no possibility to oblige the gambling organiser to comply with the guarantee rules protecting the interests of the players, and the claim for the payment of the prize cannot be enforced before a Hungarian court. Gambling organisers who are not licensed by the Authority also violate the interests of the Hungarian State in the economic activity of organising and operating gambling. In addition to the above, by not joining the player protection register kept by the Authority, which prevents players who have been excluded from gambling voluntarily or by a court from participating in gambling, they also constitute an obstacle to the effective enforcement of goals related to player protection.

The SZTFH is committed to the elimination of illegal gambling and the whitening and increasing the competitiveness of the Hungarian gambling market in order to protect the interests of Hungarian players, and therefore will continue its intensive blocking activities with great effort and the use of innovative solutions in the future. Players can find out about the gambling organizers licensed in Hungary and the illegal sites blocked by the Authority on the Authority’s website.

The post Turnover of Legal Gambling Market in Hungary Increases appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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