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Dear community, dear colleagues,

The 'House of Games' is currently taking shape in Berlin, a publicly funded hub for the gaming industry, yet without the Computer Games Museum (Computerspielemuseum). This turns it into an isolated real estate venture that excludes many of our friends from participating and coming together. With this initiative, we want to show that the games community and industry view themselves as more than just an economic project; they value their cultural impacts.

As Pixelgrüne, we serve as a bridge connecting the community and the industry with the political sphere. We are made up of gamers and developers just like you, and we want to make the world a better, more interactive place. While our newly found association is aligned with the Green Party and their values, we remain independent and operate on a cross-party basis.

We are stronger together: please sign our open letter to help us send a strong signal to politicians in Berlin and all of Germany. No House of Games without the Computer Games Museum - public funding now!

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Public funding now: No House of Games Without the Computer Games Museum!

Games are an essential part of our society and, just like other media, they deserve an institutional space - a museum - where the medium can be explored. Games are not merely an economic factor; they are cultural assets, and they should be treated as such. We want the Computer Games Museum (Computerspielemuseum) to become even more accessible, better, and more comprehensive through public funding.

With public funding, the Computer Games Museum would be...

• More affordable -> a relevant factor in how many people can be reached

• More diverse -> with more space, more topics could be addressed, and more games and consoles could be exhibited, more events can be organized

• More modern -> new technologies to experience exhibitions

• More easily reachable → Warschauer Straße is a touristic hot spot and well connected into the public transport network

• More integrated -> the museum would benefit from the institutional network of state museums and the surrounding of the House of Games

The World's First Computer Games Museum Originates in Berlin, Germany

Since 1997, the world's first Computer Games Museum in Berlin has been sparking enthusiasm for games and examining the historical and social depth inherent in the medium.

The museum houses:

• Over 35,000 games/applications

• Over 300 consoles

• Over 12,000 magazines on gaming & pop culture

Furthermore:

• The museum actively works on the restoration and preservation of games

• It exhibits them, thereby preserving cultural heritage

• It researches and curates thematic topics like DDR history, evolution of media, ludology and much more

Various temporary exhibitions and events have complemented this offering. The Computer Games Museum has come of age and deserves an upgrade for its 30th birthday: a moving out into the House of Games.

No House of Games Without the Computer Games Museum!

The so-called House of Games is currently being developed in Berlin. Politicians like to refer to it as a flagship project for the industry. To us, however, it appears to be nothing more than a real estate venture: all that counts is the commercial utilization of space, not the social added value. The Berlin state government has indicated that the Computer Games Museum Berlin is not important enough to them to warrant a place in this flagship project. When politicians fail to understand the added value of projects, they argue on the basis of jobs and tax revenues. As soon as those factors are missing from their calculations, the "tight budget situation" is blamed for a project's failure. It is a logic that leaves an immense amount of potential by the wayside.

Over 150,000 Annual Visits Demonstrate a Huge Demand

The Computer Games Museum already impressively demonstrates just how much interest there is in a museum dedicated to games. Over 100,000 visits annually—most recently setting a record of 150,000 visits in 2023—mean that over the past three decades, the museum has been viewed from over a million different perspectives. At the same time, the exhibition space of just under 600 square meters falls drastically short of the wealth of ideas the medium has to offer. The museum is reaching the limits of what it can provide. And there is simply no space for the many ideas on how the medium could be further illuminated.

Games Are More Than Money – A Museum Fulfills an Important Social Mission

A museum for games creates social added value that goes far beyond direct tax revenues. It makes a vital contribution to democratic education and media literacy. The Computer Games Museum has always sought not only to highlight the fun of games but also to address their darker sides. Games can strengthen democracies - and in the worst cases, they can weaken them. What about the risks of addiction? What is the impact of the games industry on the climate? Which games make our society more feminist, and which do the opposite? What differentiates European from Asian game design? How do games address the culture of remembrance? How do games shape our culture? There are many questions and topics that can be illuminated and processed in a museum. The list of exciting topics is long but the Computer Games Museum lacks the staff and space to explore them. State funding could change that.

State-Funded Museums for Films, Music, Literature… but Not for Games?

In Germany and in Berlin, there are many state-funded museums, mostly supported by the federal government and the State of Berlin. 46 museums and cultural institutions in Germany are funded by the federal government. The federal BKM also funds and finances the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin (a museum of cinema history), for example. A fantastic museum with a similarly relevant social mission, just for a different medium. It is time to take games seriously, both politically and socially. There is a huge, almost infinite variety of games that no single person could discover and play in a lifetime. Games connect us with other cultures and people worldwide. They accompany us throughout our lives, teaching us how things work at an early age and helping us stay mentally fit later in life. They can be utilized in schools or in political education. Those who understand games understand how digital societies function. And they understand that even digital societies like to come together physically in analog spaces. A state-funded Computer Games Museum can become a global beacon for gaming culture - let’s make it happen!

Pixelgrüne Executive Board

Signed

@Tony Meis

@Tim Junge

@Jana Ketzenberg-Schmid

@Jakob List

@Liliane V. Pollmann

@Désirée Scheil