New Games Funding Programme to Launch with Increased Budget in Q1 2025

After a change in responsibility, games funding in Saarland remained largely quiet throughout 2024. Now, according to information from GamesMarkt, a new funding programme is set to launch soon, with €300,000 allocated for project funding, the Game Award Saar, and event and location marketing.

The background to this development is a reorganisation of media funding in Saarland. Previously, the Landesmedienanstalt Saarland (LMS) was responsible for both film and games funding and operated Saarland Medien GmbH as a dedicated spin-off. However, at the beginning of 2025, responsibility for film funding was transferred to the Saarland State Chancellery, while games funding had already been moved to the Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digitalisation, and Energy of Saarland.

A spokeswoman explained to GamesMarkt that the existing games funding programme had been thoroughly evaluated: "As part of this restructuring, the state's previous funding measures were evaluated and completely redesigned. This process included coordinating with the industry association at the federal level and working closely with the regional industry, for example in the form of a participation workshop, in order to align the funding even more closely with the industry's actual needs in the future. At the same time, the new edition of our funding had to be adapted to the federal government's new funding structure."

The relaunch of games funding in Saarland is now imminent, with the programme set to start in Q1 2025. The funding budget has also been increased. The new guidelines are currently still being coordinated.

"The Saarland state budget for 2025 currently earmarks a total of €300,000 for games funding. Of this, a total of €210,000—divided between two funding periods per year—is available in the form of project funding for Saarland prototypes and productions," the spokeswoman said.

An additional €80,000 has been allocated for the Game Award Saar, which recognises game concepts, prototypes, and productions from Saarland. "Currently, a call for submissions for the award is planned for late summer 2025," the State Chancellery told GamesMarkt. A further €10,000 is set aside for events and location marketing.

"Dedicated trade fair funding will be covered by other institutions in cooperation with our funding department," the statement continued. This likely refers to Saarland’s participation in gamescom, where the region was represented 2024 alongside Rhineland-Palatinate at a joint booth.