According to Statista, video games are the entertainment medium with the highest turnover worldwide. Last year, the industry already generated 167 billion euros in turnover worldwide; if current forecasts are to be believed, the value is expected to rise globally to about 242.7 billion euros in 2026.

The gaming industry is also of great interest to other sectors of the economy: gamification, i.e. the application of game-typical elements in a non-game context, is part of the daily business of Fusion Campus, a company based in Düsseldorf-Flingern. The start-up, which was founded in 2021 and has the French game developer Ubisoft Blue Byte and Gladstone Capital as co-partners, is also funded by the state of NRW. "We're all about making gaming and e-sports usable for a wide variety of industries. This can involve playful solutions, so-called serious games, but also simulations or the application of technology, methods, game design elements or ways of thinking from gaming," explains Stefanie Waschk, managing partner at Fusion Campus. Together with experts from the companies, she develops concepts and accompanies the entire implementation from the strategy finding and business case development to the search and selection of the appropriate development team to the measurement of success.

Ubisoft Blue Byte is a major competitor in the German gaming industry and has around 450 employees in Düsseldorf. Centre: Benedikt Grindel, Managing Director, Ubisoft Blue Byte GmbH and Studio Manager, Ubisoft Düsseldorf.

In the meantime, Fusion Campus has also developed its own product together with TaKeTV, which is to be launched in October and involves companies from various sectors: "The Factory League", a gaming and e-sports league for companies based on football factory leagues, which is a great way to recruit skilled workers. "It's also about employer branding and visibility in the young target group. And of course it's about employees having fun." Companies from a wide range of sectors from all over Germany, but also from Düsseldorf, are taking part.

Germany is a top location for gaming. "In terms of turnover, the German gaming market is the largest in Europe and number 5 worldwide," Waschk knows. One important player is Ubisoft Blue Byte, which founded a branch in the state capital back in the early 1990s. The company still has studios in Berlin and Mainz, "but Düsseldorf is the largest games development studio in Germany with about 450 employees. In addition to our 'The Settlers" games, in which we are still the leaders, we now also work on a number of large-scale productions, so-called blockbuster games. These games are jointly developed by several studios worldwide," explains Benedikt Grindel, Managing Director, Ubisoft Blue Byte GmbH and Studio Manager, Ubisoft Düsseldorf.

Matthias Hocke, Managing Director of Gladstone Capital GmbH, Armin Laschet, then Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Stefanie Waschk, Managing Partner, and Benedikt Grindel of Ubisoft at the opening of Fusion Campus 2021.

But the gaming scene in the Rhineland has even more to offer: EA, a major games publisher, is based in Cologne, and the E-Sports League (ELS) was also founded here. The city also hosts gamescom every year, the world's largest trade fair for computer and video games. "In addition to Ubisoft Blue Byte, Düsseldorf is home to many small and medium-sized companies and service providers with very different orientations that shape the local ecosystem of the industry. These include, for example, the Holocafé, where you can play VR games on site. There is also Meister Cody, which developed learning support for children with reading and arithmetic difficulties and is now part of the Klett Group. Of course, we also have to mention institutions like the Film & Media Foundation NRW, which institutionally carries out games promotion for the state of NRW," says Stefanie Waschk. The State of NRW has been promoting the field of video games with great commitment for many years. Moreover, games.nrw e.V., an association of NRW game companies, is also based in Düsseldorf, as are service providers in the field of mixed reality and digital twins such as Pointreef, A4VR or Weltenmacher

What does Benedikt Grindel think of the potential of this gaming network for synergy effects? "We see ourselves both as part of the cultural and creative industries and as bridge builders to the classic industry. We work closely with many companies, the state, the Film and Media Foundation, the associations game and games.nrw - of which we are a founding member - and the city of Düsseldorf," he explains.

Since the gaming industry has long since become a driver of innovation, it should be promoted accordingly by the federal government, Benedikt Grindel firmly believes. There is still room for improvement here, but the state's support as a regional component is already well on its way. The promotion of young talent is also being taken care of: cooperation with universities is taking place within the framework of the Ubisoft Education Initiative. The MDH in Düsseldorf even offers a degree course in Game Design; the graduates are becoming increasingly popular with companies in a wide range of sectors. "The gaming industry is developing rapidly; there have never been so many opportunities for our development teams to get close to their creative visions," says Benedikt Grindel. Accordingly, Ubisoft teams around the world are experimenting with generative AI.

Artists and museums have also long used technical applications from gaming for their work and to bring culture to life. "Games are user-centred and often collaborative, promoting understanding, engagement and creating intrinsic motivation," says Stefanie Waschk.

Developed in Düsseldorf, “MicroMacro: Crime City” was awarded “Game of the Year” in 2021, among other prizes. Johannes Sich, one of the developers at Hard Boiled Games.

Not only video games - also board games continue to enjoy great popularity as a result. This is proven by MicroMacro, Game of the Year and As d'Or winner 2021 as well as winner of the Austrian Games Award - and developed in Düsseldorf.

Behind MicroMacro are Johannes Sich, Daniel Goll and Tobias Jochinke, who operate jointly under the name Hard Boiled Games. It is a board game in which the players find themselves in Crime City, a city where crime lurks around every corner. With the help of a large city map (75x110cm), they advance to become investigators and have to solve many crimes as they go.

"The city map exerts a great fascination on the players: you want to discover everything immediately and immerse yourself in the action. A great strength of MicroMacro is its easy accessibility, which reawakens the joy of playing for many people," explains Tobias Jochinke, communication and exhibition designer at the Düsseldorf agency Das Gute Ding and part of Hard Boiled Games.

The core team of Hard Boiled Games: Tobias Jochinke, Daniel Goll and Johannes Sich (from left to right).

The success of an analogue game in digital times does not surprise him. "There is now a big creative world in which digital and analogue cross-fertilise, and games from both fields are definitely in vogue. Being 41 myself, I grew up with digital games, so my generation is much more open to games of all kinds. Analogue games have their strengths in their haptics and direct interaction with the players. For example, to bluff, you need facial expressions and gestures." Hard Boiled Games is at home in both worlds. That's why an app version of MicroMacro is currently in the test phase; its release is planned for mid-2024. "We hope to create synergies between digital and analogue with the app and are already very excited about the first feedback from the digital MicroMacro detectives," says Tobias Jochinke. •

Words: Katja Vaders
Pictures: PR, Ubisoft, Thomas Ecke, Hard Boiled Games

Gamification creates Synergies