18th of February 2026
EGDF organised a call with its members to map the state of the European games industry in 2026. Please see below, EGDF president Hendrik Lesser’s conclusions of the discussion.
WE MUST FIGHT FORWARD – THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN GAMES INDUSTRY IN 2026
We are not survivors, we are fighters
For years, the European games industry has been talking about survival. We are done with that narrative. In 2025, we started asking ourselves: why do we keep going? In 2026, the answer is what drives us.
We are game makers. Creators who tell stories from our cultures, our regions, from here in Europe. That creator spirit is why we push forward — and it’s working. Expedition 33 showed the world what a small, smart French team can do. Swedish developers captured 20% of Steam’s gross revenue with fast, social, fun-first games. Staying small and staying creative pays off. So we are not passengers in this transformation. We are also its architects.
It is time to look forward
But we are in the middle of upheaval. Trade wars are no longer theoretical. Currency drops are eating our revenue. Public funding is being cut. Global alliances are shifting. AI is reshaping how we make games.
AI is no longer just about better googling. It helps us in three distinct ways: Generative AI — producing art, sound and other assets. Coding AI — writing code faster, whether through agents or assisted workflows. Management AI — organising teams, production pipelines and businesses. The real potential lies in connecting all three into new workflows.
The key is not to lose the human factor. Where exactly game development becomes AI-dominant — where the tool starts making the creative decisions — is something our industry must define for itself. That line will evolve. But the principle is clear: humans direct, AI assists. All of us — as individuals, as teams, as studios, and as an industry — must develop and hold what I call the director’s mindset. This goes beyond AI. It is about how we remain the ones who make the decisions — on our code, on our action items, on how we read and act on what our tools tell us, on the creative direction of our games. Whether you are reviewing an AI-generated summary, running a low-code production pipeline, or deciding the tone of your next game — are you directing, or are you just approving?
We humans are still here. We still need to engage, communicate, transport our vision, and find our team spirit together. And that includes building new roads into our industry for juniors — if AI takes the entry-level work, where do the future founders and creative directors come from? Keeping the human factor means keeping the human pipeline.
We need the European game industry’s own take on AI. Not Silicon Valley’s, not Beijing’s. Ours.
This is, above all, a leadership challenge. A creator spirit to know why we build. A director’s mindset to stay in control of how — the conviction to make something original and the discipline not to hand that process over. This is not just for studio heads — every founder, every creative director, every developer who ships games in Europe must own both.
It is time to stand up
We are losing money because of unfair platform practices. Players around the world pay in their local currencies, but platforms pay European developers in dollars. When European currencies drop 10–18% against the dollar in a single year, developers absorb the loss. This is not a rounding error — it is real money off real bank accounts. This is something platforms should address — and if needed, a fair question for regulators too.
At the same time, consumer regulations are fragmenting global game markets. Big studios can ship different versions for each region; smaller ones cannot. The EU’s Digital Fairness Act poses a real threat. Our ongoing European debate about the responsibilities that come with making games is what makes us strong — we must share that debate with decision-makers, not have rules imposed from outside.
And it is not just market access — we also depend on non-European tech to build our games. We need European alternatives for the infrastructure we rely on. We, as trade associations, must do more to support European game industry service providers and help our members reduce that dependency.
Public funding remains essential for high-risk experimental projects, but we must not become overly reliant on it. As Europe refocuses its spending toward defence, we should also be clear: games already play a role in how societies understand conflict, shape narratives, and build resilience. That role will only grow. But what makes our industry truly strong is not public support — it is entrepreneurial skill and creative conviction. So many of us are making it through these hard times without public support. That is not luck — that is resilience.
It is time to push European technological and cultural sovereignty
This is Europe’s moment of truth. We are rearming, strengthening old alliances and forging new ones, defending our way of life. But what are we defending if not our culture, our stories, our way of being? We have the creators, the tools, and the culture. Now we need the nerve — and the political will — to back it.
We cannot just be against all regulation. But we must bring our own debate — about ethics in games, about how we treat players, about what makes European game development distinct — to the policymakers writing rules for us. While China and the USA push their visions into global markets, we must protect the core of what makes us European: our values, our ways of expressing ourselves with art, and our way of being leaders and entrepreneurs. These are also what attract game industry talent from around the world to Europe.
Technological sovereignty means European alternatives for the infrastructure we depend on. Cultural sovereignty means we keep telling our stories. We freaking love Kingdom Come: Deliverance from Czechia and others. As long as we have that creative core — from Helsinki to Berlin to Warsaw to Istanbul — we have something no algorithm can replace. Games are where technology and culture meet. If we get this right, we don’t just defend Europe. We build it.
To policymakers: support the conditions that let European creators compete globally. Protect our ability to tell authentic European stories. Ensure fair market conditions. And recognise that games are not just entertainment — they are culture, technology, and a strategic asset for Europe.
We must rally, seize the opportunities, and fight forward. We must make Europe a better place through games — especially in this time of turmoil.
This is an open invitation. If you are a game developer, an industry leader, a trade association, or a policymaker who believes in the future of European games, reach out to EGDF — let’s fight forward together.
Hendrik Lesser – EGDF President
Contact for EGDF:
Jari-Pekka Kaleva, tel: +358 40 716 3640
Managing Director, European Games Developer Federation (EGDF)
Email: jari-pekka.kaleva@egdf.eu