Drivers of innovation: How game studios advance more than games

What do an app-supported plastic hand from the Tim Burton horror hit “Wednesday”, a virtual reality Wagner museum game and teaching materials on the effects of climate change on Sylt have in common? They were all developed by studios in Bavaria whose business is actually game development. “Actually” because the projects of these companies actually go far beyond pure games development as an entertainment medium. Anyone who thinks that game studios spend all day working on the next first-person shooter or a free2play games app is far from the truth. The portfolio of many game developers is diverse and ranges from classic game development and app services to toy design, educational applications and innovative digital assistance for non-gaming corporate contexts.

Learning the hard way

And it's not just the studios themselves that benefit from this. “Game development is multidisciplinary. We can use many of the skills we learn there in other industries and areas,” says Max Muthig, co-founder and developer of Crit Crew from Würzburg. In addition to the studio's own game development, the young company works a lot with toy companies. An obvious symbiosis. But also one that can just as easily be transferred to non-gaming areas. “In addition to development, our strength lies in user experience design and user testing. We started with Free2Play games, and you learn the hard way,” recalls Muthig. “If you don't manage to convince customers within a few seconds, then they're gone again.” And: “Of course, this is a learning that can be used profitably in many industries and areas.”

Digital extensions of real-world products

Until recently, the Würzburg-based company worked on a commission for toy manufacturer Playmobil. What is in demand: “More and more requests are coming in from toy companies that have a real-world product and want to give it a digital dimension.” Most recently, for example, the Crit Crew developed a video app for a toy realization of the disembodied hand, called “Ice Cold Hand”, from the Netflix hit “Wednesday”. Using a supplied green screen glove and the video app developed by the Crit Crew, creepy and funny videos can be created with the toy and uploaded to social media and the like. This combination of analog and digital play fascinates Muthig and his team. “Projects like this are a lot of fun, because for us it's the ideal combination of old-school toys and digital expansion.”

Gamification: Serious games as a market

But it can also be (more) serious: Gentle Troll Entertainment, also based in Würzburg, specializes in serious games. In other words, educational games and learning applications for lessons, schools, further education and training. Learning through play is in our blood – as studies clearly show. This has made playful applications in non-game contexts all the more popular in recent years - gamification is the magic word. Gentle Troll offers serious games for a wide range of customers. For example, the award-winning mobile game “The Unstoppables” was developed for the Swiss Foundation for Children with Cerebral Palsy. Or the game “Klim:S²¹ – The Climate Adaptation Game”. It was developed in collaboration with the Heidelberg University of Applied Sciences and teaches in a playful way how different natural areas in Germany could be adapted to climate change. Gentle Troll is also working on its own game projects – most recently, the cozy visual novel Tavern Talk made an extremely successful Kickstarter debut.

Innovation made by Games

The Nuremberg-based game studio Pixel Maniacs has taken the opposite route. “We started with apps and have now arrived at pure game development,” says CEO Benjamin Lochmann. However, the many years of experience in the games industry have also resulted in a tool that is now also used outside of games applications. “We have developed the influencer marketing tool ‘Contacts Tool’.” It arose from the realization that the way products are promoted in the gaming sector is very different to app marketing. “In games, a lot is done via influencer and social media marketing. By influencers, I mean all people who have some kind of reach - including journalists, for example. I noticed that people in the industry often just send around Excel spreadsheets with contacts. I thought that was terrible. And so I came up with the idea of developing a tool for this.” Pixel Maniacs now makes this available to companies as a software-as-a-service application. The tool has become a financial mainstay and recently received EU funding.

The magic word Gamification

The Bayreuth-based company Emergo Entertainment around founder Paul Redetzky has a particularly broad base. Even though it is only two years old. “Beyond game development, we develop a wide range of applications. For example, for museums, industry or public institutions,” says Redetzky. The core of the business concept: “We split 50/50. So we devote 50 percent of our time to games as entertainment and the other 50 percent to other services.” Customers are leading companies such as BOSCH. The Bayreuth-based company designed a sales tool game for them, which was exhibited at the IAA Transportation trade fair. Emergo Entertainment created a serious game on the subject of façade greening for the Bavarian State Office for Viticulture and Horticulture and a virtual escape room for the Research Institute for Vocational Training. The Bayreuth-based company works both internationally and locally. They developed a serious game for the Goethe Institute in Cairo and a VR application for the Richard Wagner Museum in Bayreuth, where you can try your hand at conducting.

The range of customers is enormous. As are the benefits that even companies outside the industry can gain from games applications. “The main advantage of interactive applications is an increased engagement and conversion rate,” says Redetzky. In other words: “If I'm a company and I offer a game and someone plays it, they are more likely to click on the link you want them to click on than if they read a text or watch a video.” Redetzky also sees a very special advantage of games over other applications: “What games are excellent at, in contrast to other media, is intercultural communication – that is an advantage of interactivity.” International companies in particular could use this to their advantage.

Tremendous opportunities for all sides

However, the broad positioning can also be a challenge at times – at least when it comes to implementing their own game projects. “Our game ‘Fireside’ has been in development for three years now. If we had concentrated exclusively on that, we would probably be halfway through it now,” says Redetzky. However, he does not see this as a disadvantage. “Instead, we have a reliable cash flow and are not solely dependent on patrons such as publishers or funding.” And: “The synergies are a great advantage.” Corporate customers benefit from the expertise of the game developers. This is because they are not only familiar with large target groups – the games industry reaches around three billion people worldwide and is a driver of innovation in many areas – they can also use the tools they use to develop their entertainment games in many other contexts to generate added value for their customers. The games studios work at the cutting edge. In Bavaria and globally. Both companies and public bodies can benefit from this. And ultimately society as a whole. So there are many opportunities – for all sides.