GG Bavaria
Business Day 2026:
Program

With almost 35 years of experience as a producer, I have certainly not seen everything, but I’ve seen a lot – and faced many highs and lows. Especially at a time like today, when the games industry – it seems – is going through a particularly deep valley again, it can sometimes be important, and perhaps also comforting, to look at the things that have never changed despite all the evolutions and revolutions.

What are the constants that characterise game development and that the experienced and successful studios and teams all over the world in particular can fall back on and rely on? What are the certainties and golden rules, both on the production side and in the creative process, that outlast all storms?

In my talk, I would like to share my experience of what has never really changed in an industry that is probably changing faster and is subject to more constant change than any other comparable sector. Because sometimes, especially in times like these, it can be both encouraging and motivating to focus on the clear and immovable things that have always and will always define our passion – the creation of interactive art.

In this talk, a game developer and a composer don’t share success stories from the finish line, but strategies from the middle of the fight. We’re still right in the trenches ourselves, and we explore how resilience, a growth mindset, and ambition help you hold on to your love for the craft when the market keeps saying “no.”

We challenge the romanticized image of the industry and offer an honest reality check about envy, sacrifice, and an uncomfortable truth: success is often nothing more than the result of staying on your feet just one minute longer than the competition.

Audience takeaways:

• Mindset over Budget: A setback doesn’t mean the end. How to treat resilience as a fallback mechanism for surviving the “valley of despair.”
• Feedback Without Ego: Why the ability to turn pain into data points can determine whether you survive in the industry.
• Grinding, Not Crunching: How deliberate choices help you find your personal work–life balance and stay mentally healthy while pursuing your craft.

Aimed at studio founders, executives, producers, publishers, investors, and ecosystem builders, the talk will unpack how trusted collaboration, selective services, and thought leadership can help creative teams stay focused on making games while building sustainable growth. Attendees will leave with practical insights into partnership models that create value beyond funding alone, strengthen studio resilience, and contribute to a healthier games ecosystem.

Based on a research project including interviews with educators and students, this talk examines how these norms become part of a hidden curriculum, reinforced through project structures, visibility pressures on platforms like ArtStation, and the normalization of “crunch” as professional preparation.

The session introduces key mechanisms behind these learning cultures and outlines concrete principles for change, including shifting from performance to sustainability, rethinking assessment and timelines, and positioning educators as protectors rather than gatekeepers. It concludes with practical takeaways for educators, emerging teams, and studio leads on how to build healthier creative environments without sacrificing ambition or excellence.

Together, we’ll cover the basics – from defining your target audience and selecting the right platforms to figuring out what kind of content really works in the gaming industry. It’s not about perfection, but about authentic content that sparks interest and builds long-term player loyalty.

The workshop provides practical guidance on how to use social media to generate attention and successfully promote your game, even with limited resources. Because visibility is key to getting your game played.

Note: This workshop will be held in German.

In the first part, the new initiative “Fair Play – Democracy” will be presented.
A brief overview will be provided of the initiative’s origins, its goals, and opportunities for participation.

In the second part, we will collectively create a timeline featuring memories of people, projects, initiatives, and events that connect games and democracy.
Together, we will demonstrate that games and democracy have long been intertwined through people and actions.

The project is intended to continue beyond the workshop.

• Budget
• Casting
• Material Prep
• Directing
• Editing
• Implementation

There will also be some live examples and even some chances for participants to try directing!

This interactive roundtable invites developers and founders to openly discuss situations where legal issues surfaced late — or could have. Through practical examples and shared experiences, we will identify recurring risk patterns, challenge common misconceptions, and develop pragmatic strategies to prevent small oversights from becoming major business problems.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own questions, concerns, and “near-miss” moments. The goal is simple: turn hard lessons into clear, actionable golden rules for future projects.

Rather than staying purely theoretical, we use these models as a framework to collaboratively develop and critically discuss one or more best practice examples. Participants leave with both a solid conceptual understanding and concrete takeaways they can apply in their own professional or research context.