The Spielwarenmesse traditionally brings the worldwide toy sector together at the start of the year in the southern German city of Nuremberg. Industry representatives already have the dates of the 72nd edition of the fair firmly marked in their diaries. From 1 to 5 February 2023, the world’s leading trade fair will be reproducing the many facets of the toy market at the Nuremberg exhibition centre. Market leaders and startups will be on site to show the trade their innovations and the trends of tomorrow. Particular attention will be paid to the topic of board games.
Vast selection
Board games are enjoying enormous popularity. According to market research company Technavio, in 2021 the worldwide market for such games recorded a growth rate of 7.14% over the previous year. The Spielwarenmesse bears this out. The games scene has been a permanent feature of the exhibition for many years. From card and dice games to board games, puzzles and role-playing games, exhibitors in Halls 10.0 and 10.1 have a wide range of goods on display. The GamesCafé (SpieleCafé) is an established meeting point for the community too. Developed in collaboration with the German Games Archive (Deutsches Spiele-Archiv e.V.), the Game Designers Association (Spiele-Autoren-Zunft e.V. – SAZ) and the German Illustrators Organisation (Illustratoren Organisation – IO), it serves the games scene as an important information and contact platform on all five days of the fair. At the GamesCafé, authors present their new ideas and exchange ideas with traders and retailers.
Games inventors in focus
To address the needs of the international games community even better and increase the fair’s appeal in relation to roleplaying games, the Spielwarenmesse team has in the last year expanded the concept with a new format, the ‘Internationale Spieleerfindermesse – Game Inventors Convention’. The Bavarian Games Archive established the event, which took place annually in Haar, near Munich. Since 2022, this successful event has been organised within the framework of the Spielwarenmesse, taking place on the Friday of the fair. It offers authors the opportunity to introduce their prototypes to experienced games editors in an exclusive atmosphere. “By integrating the event into the fair, we are strengthening its international dimension in particular,” explains Christian Ulrich, Spokesperson of the Executive Board at Spielwarenmesse eG. “And on top of that we are making it easier for authors to open up new markets, given that all the decision-makers are present at the Spielwarenmesse.” Representatives of publishing houses can quickly gain a structured overview of the innovative games ideas through the ‘Internationale Spieleerfindermesse – Game Inventors Convention’. The one-day event concludes with an evening Networking Party, providing those involved in the games industry with plenty of time for one-to-one conversations and for trying out innovative ideas.
Trying out new ideas
The fact that the fair’s organisers, Spielwarenmesse eG, are devoting themselves specifically to the topic of board games is demonstrated by a new arrival in the Nuremberg company’s portfolio. Starting this year, that portfolio will include the Internationale Spieltage SPIEL games event, which takes place every autumn in the western German city of Essen. Since 1983, the event has developed from a small gathering of players to become the largest public fair in the world for board, card and role-playing games. Here, games publishers from all over the world display their new products to a broad public. Over the course of its four days it draws some 200,000 visitors to the Essen Exhibition Centre, where they can play to their hearts’ content. “The unique character of the fair will be maintained,” reports Christian Ulrich. “My team and I are delighted to be organising the SPIEL event in the future.”
