De-Minimis funding successful; still participate now

The de minimis funding for the games industry has been a resounding success, with 380 applications already received by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure to date. Another 295 companies are already waiting with concrete projects for the EU notification of the final funding directive.

It is already being used to implement projects and even found new development studios that would not have existed without this funding. Some of them I have assisted in the last few months with their formation and helped to get the respective corporations off the ground(see this page) and to draw up the relevant contracts (see this page).

Since there is currently a risk that this successful start will be stifled again next year by a short-sighted financial policy, other interested parties should act now. For the first time, 50 million euros are available for games funding in the federal budget for 2019. However, these funds are missing from the government’s draft for the 2020 federal budget.

Current developments show how necessary games funding is for games development in Germany: the share of German games productions on the domestic market has been falling for years, even though the games market is growing strongly. Most recently, of every 100 euros spent on computer and video games, only 4.30 euros remained with German developers.

For game developers, whether indy, founders or established companies, I am always available for inquiries regarding the legal conception of investments, project agreements or company formations.

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Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.