DLR Projektträger – industrial expertise at Gamescom
24th August 2022 — A cultural asset, a learning opportunity, a driver of innovation – while computer games used to be seen mainly as a pastime for a sworn gamer community, they have now gained considerable social recognition. This is also reflected in the Federal Government's computer games funding. Since 2019, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) has been supporting the development of games with a total of 250 million euros.
DLR Projektträger implementing the Federal Government's games funding programme
DLR Projektträger is in charge of implementing the programme and is thus the only project management organisation in Germany active in this field. An interdisciplinary team, whose members have a high affinity for computer games and some of whom have programmed games themselves, advises the applicants. At the DLR Projektträger sites in Bonn and Berlin, the computer games developed in the projects funded can be tested in practice at various stations – from smartphones to virtual reality environments. In addition, DLR Projektträger supports the BMWK in the strategic planning and implementation of the Federal Government's overall games strategy.
The games industry as a driver of innovation
Even though last year, according to the German Games Industry Association, the approximately 800 companies in this country generated nearly 9.8 billion euros in sales, computer games promotion is about much more than making the German industry internationally competitive. For it is not only an important economic factor, but has long been an innovation driver of the entire economy and society. Pioneering work is being done here – especially in the four key technologies of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, 3-D modelling and sensor technology – which will later be used not only in computer games but also, for example, in medical technology, the construction industry or the automotive industry.
Manufacturers and politicians meet at Gamescom
With so much innovative power, a direct exchange between manufacturers, politicians and DLR Projektträger as the implementing organisation of computer games funding is necessary. Gamescom in Cologne, the world's largest trade fair for computer and video games in terms of exhibition space and numbers of visitors, offers an excellent opportunity for this. DLR Projektträger will be represented at Gamescom with its own stand in the Campus Area, Hall 10.2, Aisle B, Stand 016b, every day from the 24th to the 28th August 2022, between 10 am and 8 pm.
