Games Ground 2025: What can the community expect in Berlin?

At first glance, the announcement reads almost matter-of-factly. A gaming festival in Berlin, at the end of November, three days of program with numerous participants, but anyone who knows the Alte Münze and has mingled with the scene there knows that a special place is created here every year. A place that offers space for encounters, exchange and creative impulses that do not adhere to prefabricated formats.

The atmosphere on site is more reminiscent of an open workshop than a traditional trade fair. There are playable prototypes and improvised test stations everywhere, with a cosplayer standing next to them discussing the possibilities of AI-supported storytelling with a media educator. It is precisely this mixture of curiosity, openness and creative freedom that shapes the character of the event.

Games Ground brings together people who not only play or develop games, but also understand and live them as a cultural form of expression. In the midst of questions about society, technology and digital culture, Berlin will once again become the meeting place for a diverse community that thinks and discusses gaming in all its facets from November 13 to 16, 2025.

How Games Ground 2025 stands out from other gaming events

Not every event that deals with games has to scream floodlights and merchandise. Games Ground is known in the scene for taking a different approach. The concept itself is more like a festival than a classic trade fair. It's not about exclusivity, closed-off press areas or pre-timed announcements.

The Alte Münze as a venue gives the format an additional signature. Instead of hall architecture with advertising banners, visitors can expect an ensemble of inner courtyards, concrete walls, light installations and creative chance encounters. Anyone walking through the grounds will encounter heaps of new games, performing art, talks and music formats.

From indie to industry - which names are expected in Berlin in 2025

Not all names have been confirmed yet, but the direction is clear. The Games Ground program in 2025 also promises a mixture of scene giants, educational institutions and innovative projects. Players such as Nintendo and Daedalic were already present last year. Indie Arena Booth was also represented with dozens of developer teams. A format that is expected to return this year.

What is striking is the increasing opening in directions that classic gaming events like to leave out. NGOs with game-based educational formats meet universities with courses in game studies and media education. The presence of slot manufacturers such as Greentube, a name that has long since been associated with more than just gaming in the context of gamification and game mechanics, cannot be ruled out. The boundaries are blurring and this is exactly what is welcome at Games Ground.

Podcasters, streamers and content creators will also be more involved this year. They represent an important part of a culture that is no longer defined solely by console or PC, but rather by reach, opinion and community involvement.

Gaming in Germany: an industry with creative energy in a structural standstill

There is hardly any other creative field that is so lively and at the same time has so many structural problems. In a European comparison, Germany is far from being on the winner's podium. While Poland has left Germany behind in the gaming industry, France and the UK are also making targeted investments in their gaming industries. In contrast, German developers and studios often struggle with fluctuating funding, complicated bureaucracy and hardly any venture capital.

Yet there is no shortage of ideas. Berlin in particular has been a driving force for new concepts for years: whether serious games, queer narratives, VR experiments or educational formats, the energy is there. What is often missing is a long-term approach. Many projects fizzle out because there is a lack of planning security.

As the following video shows, the path from game idea to market-ready product is often characterized by difficult working conditions:

Games Ground forms an important counterpoint here. As a festival that does not ignore economic aspects, but also does not subordinate everything to them. Those who exhibit, pitch, explain, test and discuss here. This makes Berlin a place in November where the creative hope for a more sustainable industry becomes a reality, as co-organizer Sebastian Gsänger emphasizes.

What does Games Ground 2025 actually offer? A look at the planned program

Games Ground offers a wide range of shows and content. Without the flashing trailer walls and overcrowded promo stands of classic games fairs, but with a program that is cleverly curated and appeals to different target groups. Anyone interested in the latest prototypes will get their money's worth here, as will anyone who wants to spontaneously introduce a topic at a barcamp or discuss ethics in game design in the courtyard after a lecture on gaming and mental health.

To help interested parties keep track, here are the most important program items:

• Playable prototypes and indie titles, many of which can be tested publicly for the first time
• Retro zones with old consoles and arcade machines, curated by collectors and enthusiasts
• Panels and discussion rounds on gender, inclusion, mental health and political responsibility in games
• performative installations, AI-generated game environments and artistic-experimental contributions
• Cosplay competitions, DJ sets in the evening and open stage formats
• Workshops with developers, including live feedback from players on site
• Networking spots for publishers, studios, students and freelancers

In terms of content, the event is as diverse as the industry itself and that is precisely what makes it so exciting. Instead of a central guiding narrative, different perspectives are allowed here in parallel, a format that remains open and therefore appears close.

Trends and topics that will shape the discourse in 2025

What is shown and discussed here at Games Ground can often be found a few months later in global productions, or at least be recognized as an idea-generating trace. In 2025, a field of tension is once again emerging that is characterized by progress through technology and a return to playful roots.

Artificial intelligence remains the central topic. No longer just as a technical tool, but rather as a cultural point of discussion. Can a game be emotional if it was written by a machine? How does game writing change when dialog is generated at the touch of a button? The panels in Berlin will address these questions in open debates.

At the same time, retro gaming is experiencing an ongoing revival. Old consoles, modules and pixel aesthetics are back. But not as mere nostalgia. Rather, gaming is being reinterpreted as a reduction, stylistic device and response to the sensory overload of many modern games.

The Alte Münze as a location: urban, creative and in the heart of the neighborhood

It is not only the program, but also the location itself that gives the Games Ground its special character. The Alte Münze is located in the heart of Berlin, between Alexanderplatz, the banks of the Spree and creative open spaces. Coins were once minted here; today, ideas, concepts and cultural statements are created on the same site.

The area offers an architectural mix that perfectly combines with the festival concept: historic halls with rough surfaces, open courtyards for encounters, projections and pop-up stands, small rooms for concentrated workshops. The proximity to art, music, design and urban culture has a noticeable impact on the atmosphere.

And if you want to treat yourself to something tasty between two panels or after a long discussion, you don't have to walk far. In Berlin, visitors will find a wide range of food & drink that is as diverse as the festival itself: from street food stalls nearby to vegan brunch places and small craft beer spots that are still open at night.

What the Games Ground means for Berlin

Berlin has always been more of a meeting place than a glossy stage. The Games Ground fits in well with this tradition. It deliberately avoids a bombastic appearance without losing any of its relevance. Precisely because it is built so close to the scene, it acts as an amplifier for what the industry achieves, discusses and criticizes.

In economic terms, the festival is an important crystallization point. Studios network with publishers here. Training centers meet agencies. Freelancers find contacts that later lead to projects. Of course, it is also about investment sums, but above all it is about exchange, trust and visibility, and the event is also a benefit for the city itself.

Games Ground attracts professionals, creatives, young talents and media-interested groups to Berlin. It strengthens the capital's image as a place for digital culture and collaborative ideas. Especially in combination with other creative formats, it becomes clear that Berlin remains a place in Europe where the future is being actively shaped.

Anyone curious about the future of games will meet in Berlin in November

Anyone expecting Games Ground 2025 to deliver the next big blockbuster premiere will be disappointed. But anyone with a feel for trends, ideas and cultural impulses will find what they are looking for here. Games Ground is not a stage for vanity, it is a forum for content and a marketplace of ideas.

Game mechanics meet social criticism, indie ideas meet industry, cultural practice meets economic realism. The tangle of workshops, performances and networking events creates an overall picture that radiates far beyond Berlin. A festival that takes gaming seriously without losing the fun. It asks questions instead of selling answers and shows what is possible when the scene is given a special space and a multi-layered structure.