My first brush with the German gaming ecosystem was also, believe it or not, my first time in Germany. No Berlin Wall sightseeing or Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland for me. Instead, it was a flight into Frankfurt and a train straight to Karlsruhe. The destination? Goodgame Studios, the OG titan of mobile strategy 4X gaming, the year was 2016, long before their 2018 acquisition by Stillfront.

Back then, Empire: Four Kingdoms was already a juggernaut. To this day, it remains one of Germany’s top mobile success stories, pulling in a hefty $350 million in lifetime IAP revenue. But GGS isn’t alone. There’s Wooga’s June’s Journey, a hidden-object powerhouse nearing $900 million in revenue, and Kolibri’s Idle Miner Tycoon, quietly generating around $120 million (maybe 2X with AdRevenue). Add hypercasual heavyweights like Popcore and Sunday, and the download volume swells along with the revenue. 

It’s clear: Germany’s mobile scene punches above its weight.

And that weight? Substantial. In 2025, Germany is projected to hit $13.14 billion in total video game revenue, making it Europe’s largest gaming market. The country isn’t just filled with old school heavy hitters that have been gobbled up in part of the consolidation play, there’s also some new blood on the scene.

*Source: The German Games Industry Association

Mobile continues to lead the charge. In 2023, mobile titles made up the largest share of Germany’s gaming revenue, a trend forecasted to continue through 2030. The Berlin-based Kolibri Games, founded in 2016, is a prime example. With over 100 million downloads of Idle Miner Tycoon and a €160 million valuation post-Ubisoft acquisition, they helped put German mobile on the global map.

Let’s not forget Swift Games, makers of Heroes vs Hordes. If you haven’t played it, you should. It’s a slick idle RPG blending casual progression with light tactical depth and polished monetization. I met founder Carsten back when the game was still in soft launch, and I’ve been impressed by how much the title has evolved since, growing into a standout in the crowded idle market.

Then there’s Soft Games, a fascinating Berlin-based studio originally rooted in HTML5. With H5 games seeing a recent resurgence, they’ve pivoted toward mobile in a big way. With 100+ team members and growth mastermind Alexey Gusev recently joining from Kwalee, they’re quickly becoming one of the most intriguing studios not just in Germany, but across Europe.

However, whilst all this sounds great, not everything is smooth sailing. Just last month, Wooga, owned by Playtika, laid off around 50 employees after cancelling Claire's Chronicles: Solitaire. It’s a sobering reminder that even high-performing studios face volatility in an increasingly saturated market. Growth comes with pressure, and not every bet lands, especially when King is also failing with their recent launch of Candy Crush Solitaire and SuperPlay are killing it with Disney Solitaire. My heart goes out to Wooga because of this, they obviously got the same idea as the other companies and thought they were going after a bluer ocean and then two of the biggest and most popular devs of today did the same thing, at the same time.

Final Thoughts: Watch This Space

Germany’s gaming scene is a rich mix of established success and new energy. It’s got scale, serious creative firepower, and a growing pipeline of next-gen studios. But with rising UA costs, shifting platform dynamics, and evolving player expectations, the path forward isn’t without its hurdles.

Still, if you’re looking for where Europe’s gaming future is being built, not just played, Germany should be high on your radar and a trip to GamesForum Hamburg high on your agenda.