News
German Game industry
In Germany, billions are made with video games, but little of it ends up with local studios. Instead, funding is stopped and companies and departments close. Can the games industry still be saved? Half of Germany plays video games – literally. No matter whether on the console, on the PC or with the smartphone. Millions sit in front of their screens and engage with this interactive medium. But only very few games are made here. The German video game and the industry behind it seem to be shrinking rather than growing. Few media products have higher sales than video games.
Depending on the source, it is estimated that games will generate between $200 and $300 billion in sales worldwide in 2022. The importance of games as an economic factor can also be clearly quantified in this country. According to the Game lobby association, around 5.5 billion euros were spent on game software in 2022. However, the approximately 900 German studios with their 12,000 employees are only responsible for five percent of this. And this despite the fact that the Federal Republic is one of the ten most important games markets worldwide. The fate of a well-known Munich studio is exemplary of what is seen by many as a quasi-failure of German politics. Shadow Tactics developer Mimimi Games will close its doors shortly after the release of its current game Shadow Gambit in September 2023. After successful years, the company made a loss of 300,000 euros in 2022. According to a statement from the managing directors, the development of games has become “a heavy personal burden for us and our families,” and financial pressure and risk have become untenable.
Two months earlier, Daedalic, known for its graphic adventures, dissolved its 25-person development department after the disastrous release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum . Gollum’s budget is estimated at 15 million euros. Lavish for a German game, tiny compared to top international productions like The Last Of Us Part II , and apparently not enough. Are the end of Mimimi Games and the Gollum flop symptoms of the beginning of the end for the German games industry? According to Innogames COO and co-founder Michael Zillmer, blockbuster expectations in mediocre conditions are a problem in this country. “We hardly have any companies that can afford the corresponding production budgets,” says Zillmer. “Let alone survive any failure.” Zillmer’s company produces browser and mobile games and is the second largest game studio in Germany by workforce. In 2021, Innogames, which belongs to the Swedish group MTG, was able to record a profit of 44 million euros, according to its annual financial statements . The public sector has been another source of investment for German studios in recent years.
According to the FAQ from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, two goals of the games funding at the federal level, which has existed since 2019, are “strengthening Germany as a business location in an international comparison” and “establishing and securing qualified employment relationships subject to social insurance contributions.” 50 million euros per year plus one Increased to 70 million at the end of 2022, over 500 projects have so far been funded, which for a successful application only have to pass a culture test and have enough funds to cover 50 to 75 percent of the total costs, depending on the scale of production.
News
Price of Gold
The price of gold reached record levels in the spring. Investors are primarily looking for protection against inflation in the precious metal.
Imagine a metal block that is the size of a two-story house – and made of pure gold: This is how big the German gold treasure is (edge length: 8.6 meters) if you were to combine the entire holdings of private households and the Bundesbank into one large one Melt cubes together. It would be worth more than 750 billion euros (gold price as of January 29, 2024).
Germans are hoarding more than 9,000 tons of gold, a study by Reisebank shows. Around 40 percent of German citizens (aged 18 and over) use the precious metal in the form of bars or coins as a physical store of value. Gold is particularly popular as a stable investment in times of inflation. Bars and coins hoarded by private households account for 5,229 tonnes. The remaining 3,805 tons are gold jewelry, and another 3,353 tons belong to the Bundesbank (as of December 31, 2023).
On average, investors invest 4,764 euros in gold. Even among stock loving Gen Z, , i.e. people born between 1995 and 2012, the precious metal is very popular: 37.8 percent bought gold in 2023 – that is a significantly higher proportion than the average population (15.4 percent). . However, they apparently have less money available than the general public: on average, people from Gen Z invest “only” 1,620 euros. In addition, the young investors place more value on the sustainable origin of the gold than the rest of the investors – they also spend more money on this.
According to the Reisebank survey, those who buy gold as an investment primarily want to protect themselves from inflation (38 percent). The fear of high or rising inflation has risen to over 70 percent among those surveyed – in the previous year it was “only” 46 percent. But preservation of value (36 percent), the real physical value (31 percent) and aesthetics (28 percent) are also important to investors when buying gold.
Given the current high prices for gold, one might expect more people to sell their gold treasures again now. However, the travel bank study shows that purchases and sales are currently balanced.
News
Amazon shortens the return period
In the past, anyone who ordered something from Amazon but wanted to return the item was able to take their time. In most cases the return period was 30 days. This has now changed for some articles. This is what you need to know about it.
If you buy something online, you can usually return the goods to the seller within 14 days and without giving any reasons. This is regulated by the right of withdrawal. Amazon has even better conditions so far. In most cases, customers have 30 days to return items to the mail order company. However, Amazon has drastically reduced this deadline for some items. This emerged from in March .
14 day return period from April 25th at the latest
For items purchased from March 25, 2024, Amazon is shortening the return period for customers from 30 to 14 days in the following categories,” it reads there. The period starts with delivery of the product. After all, not all categories are affected. The new regulation applies to cameras, office supplies, computers, video games, music, electronics and the video/DVD sector. There are also exceptions. Amazon’s own hardware and Amazon Renewed products are excluded. You can view the return period directly on the respective product page. If you buy an iPad, you have 14 days to return it; for an Amazon Fire tablet it remains at 30 days.
News
ChatBot – Increasing popularity
The popularity of chatbots is on the rise as businesses and individuals recognize their potential to streamline communication, enhance customer experiences, and automate repetitive tasks. With advancements in artificial intelligence and natural language processing, chatbots are becoming more sophisticated and capable of engaging in meaningful conversations with users. From customer service and support to sales and marketing, chatbots are being deployed across various industries to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver personalized interactions. As chatbot technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even greater adoption and integration into everyday life, transforming how we interact with technology and each other.
- OpenAI’s GPT-3: Similar to ChatGPT, GPT-3 is a powerful language model developed by OpenAI, capable of generating human-like text across various tasks and topics.
- Microsoft’s Xiaoice: Developed by Microsoft, Xiaoice is a popular chatbot in China known for its conversational abilities and emotional intelligence. It has been used in various applications, including customer service and virtual companionship.
- Google’s Meena: Meena is a chatbot developed by Google that aims to engage in more natural and open-ended conversations with users. It utilizes advanced natural language processing techniques to generate contextually relevant responses.
- Facebook’s BlenderBot: BlenderBot is a chatbot developed by Facebook AI Research that integrates conversational skills with knowledge retrieval capabilities. It can engage in multi-turn conversations and provide informative responses on a wide range of topics.
- Rasa: Rasa is an open-source conversational AI platform that allows developers to build and deploy chatbots and virtual assistants. It provides tools for natural language understanding, dialogue management, and integration with messaging platforms.
- IBM’s Watson Assistant: Watson Assistant is a chatbot platform developed by IBM that enables businesses to build and deploy AI-powered virtual assistants for customer support, sales, and other use cases. It offers pre-built templates and integration with IBM’s cloud services.
- Amazon Lex: Amazon Lex is a chatbot service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows developers to build conversational interfaces for applications using voice and text. It powers Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant and supports integration with other AWS services.
- Dialogflow: Dialogflow is a conversational AI platform developed by Google that enables developers to build and deploy chatbots and virtual agents across multiple channels, including websites, mobile apps, and messaging platforms.
- Pandorabots: Pandorabots is a chatbot development platform that provides tools for building and deploying AI-powered virtual agents for customer service, marketing, and entertainment purposes. It offers customizable chatbot templates and integration with popular messaging platforms.
- Chatfuel: Chatfuel is a chatbot-building platform that allows users to create AI-powered chatbots for Facebook Messenger and other messaging platforms without coding. It offers a visual interface for designing conversational flows and integration with third-party services.
These are just a few examples of chatbots and conversational AI platforms available today, each with its own unique features and capabilities.
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