07 Foundation for Digital Games Culture

Games connect people, drive innovation and form the heart of a vibrant popular culture. In short, games change the world.

The Foundation for Digital Games Culture invites actors from the political and academic spheres and from civil society to participate in shaping this change. On the basis of formats for exchange, model projects and studies, it demonstrates how games create social added value for culture, education and research. As an opportunity ambassador for games, the foundation is the centre of a cross-industry network dedicated to the potential of games ‘beyond entertainment’. It was founded jointly by the German Bundestag and the German games industry in 2012. Its work is supported by a high-calibre advisory council comprised of 14 members from the games industry, federal ministries, youth protection agencies, cultural and academic institutions and other organisations. game – The German Games Industry Association is the sole stakeholder of the foundation.

In 2023, with funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Berlin Senate Chancellery, the foundation initiated the establishment of the International Computer Game Collection (ICS) as an independent company. The ICS was founded in October 2023 with the Computer Games Museum, the Förderverein für Jugend und Sozialarbeit (‘Association to promote youth and social work’), game, the USK and the foundation as shareholders. On completion of this first phase in the course of 2024, the foundation will transfer the ICS into independent operation.

The education initiative Stärker mit Games 2 (‘Stronger with games 2’) has enjoyed great popularity since its launch in November 2022, with all project funds having already been committed until the end of 2025. Supported by funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the initiative forms alliances with non-profit organisations at the local level to provide children and young people with cultural education through games. The GamesTalente (‘Games talents’) youth promotion programme, which is run in cooperation with the talent promotion centre Bildung & Begabung, celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2023 and is to be continued in modified form from 2024. The Foundation for Digital Games Culture realised three further projects with funding from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg: Projekttage Games (‘Game project days’) gave pupils at 12 schools in Brandenburg insights into learning with games. The second round of the programme Start-up: Games Entrepreneurs assisted the initial business steps of 15 regional company founders. And the symposium Kollisionsabfrage (‘Collision detection’) engaged participants in a discussion on lowering barriers in gaming for people with disabilities.

As part of the research project Let’s Remember! Erinnerungskultur mit Games vor Ort (‘Cultivating commemoration with games on-site’), the foundation has been testing the use of games in museums and memorials in cooperation with the Deutscher Kulturrat since April 2023. The two-year undertaking is funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ Foundation) and the Federal Ministry of Finance. In the model project Games und Wertebildung (‘Games and values education’), which is funded by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, activities over the course of the year included developing criteria and approaches for the use of games in integration processes as well as leading visitors on a correspondingly themed tour of gamescom. And the end of the year marked the conclusion of the Federal Foreign Office֪–funded pilot project Auswärtsspiel (‘Away game’), which had worked at the intersection of foreign policy and games since November 2022.

In the field of games culture, the foundation also serves as the office responsible for the submission and jury process for two prestigious prizes: the German Computer Game Awards, hosted by the German government and game, and the gamescom award – the official distinction bestowed by the world’s largest game event.