The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is Europe’s main computer game hotbed and is by far the leading games industry location in Germany. 

Hamburg, 13 August 2012: The value creation chain in the games sector comprises 3,016 permanent employees at 155 companies. An additional 490 freelancers and 495 employees working for businesses based outside Hamburg bring the figure up to 4,001 jobs in total. These are the findings of the annual industry survey conducted by the gamecity:Hamburg network. Since 2009, Hamburg has been the only German federal state to regularly collect job market data on the emerging games sector.

Since the founding of gamecity:Hamburg in 2004, Hamburg’s games industry has seen continuous, positive development. While the local industry still counted 1,900 permanent employees three years ago, approximately 1,100 jobs subject to social insurance contribution have been added since. In particular, the number of online game developers has increased steadily. They represent the largest group of employees out of a total of 85 developers and publishers based in Hamburg. Many of these companies are currently seeking additional specialized personnel.

There are currently five companies in Hamburg with more than 100 staff members each. Combined, they account for nearly half of the 3,016 permanent employees. The comprehensive range of services offered by the gamecity:Hamburg initiative makes Hamburg an attractive location for small, aspiring companies as well. A total of 113 businesses with ten employees or less were recorded in this year’s survey – 11 more than in the previous year. Stefan Klein, gamecity:Hamburg Managing Director: “We have a sympathetic ear for both the heavyweights and the small enterprises, and will address their concerns equally. This well-balanced mix of company sizes and specializations makes Hamburg a unique location in Europe.”


Charts and additional details regarding the results of the 2012 industry survey can be downloaded at www.quinke-networks.com/MarketSurvey2012.zip.

Additional Information:
www.gamecity-hamburg.com / www.hamburg-media.net
www.facebook.com/gamecityHamburg / www.twitter.com/gamecityHamburg

About gamecity:Hamburg
gamecity:Hamburg has more than 2,000 members and is the largest regional network of the games industry in Germany. A division of the Hamburg@work initiative for media, IT and telecommunication, gamecity:Hamburg is concerned with creating an optimal business environment for the industry in Hamburg. The target groups are computer, console and mobile game developers and producers, as well as related industries such as advertising, technical service providers, online agencies, and music and film production companies from Hamburg and Europe. The network helps companies to establish cooperation agreements and break into new markets. In addition, gamecity:Hamburg supports local businesses by providing a broad range of services including workshops, industry meetings, joint trade show appearances in Germany and abroad, recruiting tours, affordable office space, consulting for start-ups, qualification programmes and funding for prototype production. To provide demand-oriented training of junior staff, a Games master’s degree programme was created in cooperation with the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) which began in the 2010 summer term. gamecity:Hamburg is a public-private partnership headed by Stefan Klein (Hamburg@work) and Achim Quinke (Quinke Networks).