There is a lot going on in the Hallbau Gallus, because the German Dev Days 2024 are taking place here. According to the organizers, it is the largest German-speaking conference for game developers. Nikolai Smolkin is among the visitors. The 23-year-old computer science student strolls from stand to stand with interest. He is interested in a kiosk simulator, a game with VR glasses and various action games. Young developers present their game ideas at a total of 16 tables. For Smolkin, who came especially from Heidelberg, it is the first time he has taken part in the conference. “I hope that I can make contacts in the industry here,” says Smolkin. He is particularly excited about a lecture on the topic of networking. Because after his studies he wants to get into the industry. But it’s not easy. According to organizer Stefan Marcinek, there is a lack of sufficient funding. The additional funds made available in 2023 have already been exhausted, meaning that an application freeze had to be imposed. And from 2025 onwards, things could get tight, especially for smaller game developers. As the Federal Ministry of Economics announced in April, from next year onwards the federal government will only support projects with a minimum budget of 400,000 euros. Hesse is doing poorly. The states are responsible for smaller projects. And here Hesse performs poorly compared to other countries. While other federal states provide funding with millions, the funding in Hesse is around 320,000 euros, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Sales in the games industry, on the other hand, have been growing for years. According to the Association of the German Games Industry, they rose from 6.5 billion euros in 2019 to 9.97 billion euros in 2023. Opportunity to try it out: Video game conference in Frankfurt. Michael Braunschädel This sparks interest in the industry and the Conference in Frankfurt. She had around 750 visitors this Wednesday and Thursday. Most of them are students, says Stefan Marcinek, who launched the event in 2016. The offer is aimed at everyone who comes from the broader circle of game development and wants to network with other students and people from the industry. One thing in particular has changed since it was founded: the proportion of women among visitors has increased. According to the organizers, at the beginning it was around 20 percent, this year it is a good 33 percent. The situation is different with the speakers. There are still significantly more men who give lectures and lead workshops on the two days. Marcinek explains this by saying that the industry was initially very male-dominated. But that is increasingly changing. In any case, it doesn’t fail because of interest in video games: According to the German Games Industry Association, the proportion of female video gamers is 48 percent.More on the topicClaudia Stricker is one of the few speakers at the conference. Around 100 visitors listen to her lecture, in which the Darmstadt native talks about so-called “dark patterns”. Behind this are tricks that are intended to force the user of a website to do something against their will. This is not her first visit to the German Dev Days. She was there at the premiere in 2016 and has been coming back every year since: “It’s just two nice days when you can talk about gaming.” The fact that she is an exception on stage also concerns her. “We are far too few,” says Stricker. In her opinion, the German Dev Days are a good opportunity for speakers.
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