German serious games market likely to grow to 370 million US dollars by 2023
‘Considering the current turmoil in many industries, more companies should move with the times and use serious games as part of their employee training’

The German market for serious games is expected to grow significantly in the coming years: sales revenue in Germany is likely to increase by an average of 19 per cent annually, and market volume is projected to grow accordingly, to 370 million US dollars by 2023. This information was announced today by game – the German Games Industry Association. These figures are based on a projection from auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. And the global trend looks similar: worldwide sales revenue from serious games is projected to grow by 19 per cent, creating a market worth approximately 9.2 billion US dollars by 2023.

‘This data on the German market for serious games – which has never been presented in this form before – demonstrates that serious games boast enormous potential in many areas, such as education and health care, and they also offer very strong economic prospects,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game. ‘Whether learners are school pupils or career professionals, serious games increase learners’ motivation over the long term and make complex concepts easier to understand. They present a major opportunity for our knowledge-based society, and considering all their positive aspects, they are not being used nearly often enough.’

Human resources managers rate serious games particularly positively

The positive aspects of serious games are also important in a professional context. 98 per cent of the human resources managers surveyed who had already used serious games rated them as good or fairly good. 89 per cent observed an improvement in learning performance, and 86 per cent believed that their employees enjoyed the games. Around three quarters (76 per cent) of the human resources managers surveyed observed an increase in motivation among their employees.

Felix Falk: ‘Many in the business world still have reservations about serious games, as they feel that games are the antithesis of work. However, the survey results show how positively human resources managers rate serious games. Considering the current turmoil in many industries, more companies should move with the times and use serious games as part of their employee training. These games give employees the opportunity to learn key skills for the digital workplace alongside their colleagues in an interactive, digital format. And they can also give companies a strong competitive advantage.’

Further data from the survey on serious games conducted by auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers can be found in the new publication ‘game Fokus Serious Games’, which is available free of charge and in German language on seriousgames.game.de

About the market data
The data comes from a survey conducted by auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) GmbH. 407 human resources managers were surveyed, comprising 234 men and 173 women. The average age of survey participants was 43.1. The survey was conducted in the second half of December 2018.

game – the German Games Industry Association
We are the association of the German games industry. Our members include developers, publishers and many other games industry actors such as esports event organisers, educational establishments and service providers. As a joint organiser of gamescom, we are responsible for the world’s biggest event for computer and video games. We are an expert partner for media and for political and social institutions, and answer questions relating to market development, games culture and media literacy. Our mission is to make Germany the best games location.

Footstock grows eight-fold in three months and integrates HooYu to deliver more streamlined KYC process

Leading KYC and customer onboarding specialist, HooYu, has announced a partnership with leading fantasy football gaming operator, Footstock.

As Covid-19 has hit sportsbook operators hard, Footstock has enjoyed a period of rapid expansion, growing eight-fold in the last three months. HooYu is now integrated into the Footstock customer sign-up process providing UI and UX tools alongside a range of KYC technology to provide Footstock customers with a smooth and easy digital journey.

Prior to using HooYu, Footstock were manually performing KYC, receiving ID documents from customers, and taking up to a day to approve customer registrations. Footstock now use HooYu to deploy identity database checks, ID document validation, proof of address matching and PEPs and Sanctions checks to verify customer age and identity. As a result, the customer sign-up journey can be completed in a few minutes instead of up to a day.

James Copewell, CMO at Footstock, said: “Any delay or obstacle in the customer sign-up process is an opportunity for that customer to abandon and drop-off but HooYu has been able to automate and streamline the KYC process for us.”

David Pope, Marketing Director at HooYu, said: “The Footstock fantasy football proposition has hit the back of the net now that real-life football is back, and I’m sure they will continue to grow with HooYu here to help them balance the twin demands of KYC compliance and customer experience.”

ORYX Gaming, a Bragg Gaming Group company, has bolstered its presence in Romania after landing its second turnkey solution deal in the country, this time with leading land-based operator Game World.

Gameworld.ro has been launched on ORYX’s iGaming Platform, an omni-channel and cross product platform supporting casino, sportsbook and lottery verticals. The platform also offers a proprietary set of tools including, player and transaction management, bonuses, CRM, fraud, compliance, analytics and reporting.

The operator also has full access to ORYX Hub, which hosts an extensive library of 10,000+ casino games from 100+ providers, including ORYX’s proprietary RGS content, and titles from Gamomat and a variety of third party suppliers such as Evolution, NetEnt, Pragmatic Play and Greentube.

Game World has been operating land-based casino activities in Romania since 1999. The company operates the largest gambling hall in the country, Game World Bucharest Mall, and has a very large customer base and a strong reputation in the Romanian market.

The deal will see ORYX further enhance its presence in Romania where its iGaming platform is successfully used by Stanleybet, which is part of Game World Group, and its casino content has been proven popular with players of its operators partners, including Stanleybet, NetBet, PublicWin and Unibet.

ORYX is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN) and its content is certified or approved in 16 major jurisdictions.

Matevz Mazij, Managing Director of ORYX Gaming, said: “This deal with Game World is a result of our commitment to the Romanian operators and we are thrilled to add Game World to the list of our iGaming platform and content partners and to be able to offer our exciting and engaging content to their loyal player base.

“Game World is one of the strongest brands in the market with great history and extensive local experience. As a result of recent developments we were asked to deliver a turnkey solution in the shortest time possible and I strongly believe that we are going to take their online operation to a leading position in the online market.”

Attila Török, Strategy Director of Game World, said:“With ORYX’s iGaming Platform and ORYX Hub we were able to quickly launch our brand online and minimise the impact of the retail closure and further strengthen our business.  With such an extensive games portfolio, we are certain the content will have a wide appeal to our players.”