People in German spent 17 per cent more on video game products in 2021 than the previous year.
That's according to a new report from the country's games trade body, Game, which says that consumer spending reached €9.8 billion ($9.97 billion) last year. The biggest area of growth was software, which saw a 19 per cent increase to hit €5.4 billion ($5.49 billion ) in 2021. Hardware brought in €3.6 billion ($3.66 billion) for the period, an 18 per cent rise, while online spending and subscription services came to the tune of €719 million ($731.4 million) a mere four per cent increase.
In-game spending on PC and console titles brought in €1.5 billion ($1.53 billion) annually, almost half the €2.76 billion ($2.81 billion) that mobile hoovered up.
€969 million ($985.76 million) was spent on gaming PCs last year, while €1.506 billion ($1.53 billion) was splashed out on accessories for the platform.
"With federal games funding, the government games department, the games strategy and numerous improvements at the state level, we have made enormous progress in the past few years in making Germany a top location for the games industry," Game MD Felix Falk wrote.
"But Germany still lags behind other games locations – countries like France, Canada and England already began providing strategic support to their games industries many years ago. If we want to tap the full cultural, economic and technological potential of the games industry in Germany, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.
"The German games industry expects good things to come of this new federal government, as our game industry barometer also indicates. Consequently, the country is in a strong position for further positive growth."
