Six parties have responded to the joint election policy questionnaire by Games & XR Mitteldeutschland e.V. and eSport Land Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. / E-Sport Hub Sachsen-Anhalt ahead of the 2026 state election.

What are their positions on games, XR and interactive technologies? Our analysis looks at the responses primarily from the perspective of the games and XR sector, focusing on regional development, business financing, innovation transfer, skilled professionals and the cultural and creative industries.

Saxony-Anhalt combines expertise in design, technology, science, culture and industrial applications. Games and XR bring together creative production, digital business models and technological innovation. Technologies and expertise from this field are also used in industry, healthcare, education, culture, tourism and public-sector applications.

Ahead of the state election on 6 September 2026, ten joint questions were sent to seven parties.

As of 24 August 2026, responses had been received from Alliance 90/The Greens, CDU Saxony-Anhalt, The Left Saxony-Anhalt, FDP Saxony-Anhalt, SPD Saxony-Anhalt and AfD Saxony-Anhalt.

No response had been received from BSW Saxony-Anhalt by the editorial deadline.

The originally requested deadline for responses was 15 August 2026. All responses received by the editorial deadline of 24 August 2026 were included in this analysis.

The parties’ complete original responses are published without alterations. The summaries and comparisons below are editorial synopses. They do not constitute an election recommendation or an assessment of the parties.

1. 1. Regional Development & Political Responsibility
      How are games and XR coordinated across the state government – and what role do a state-wide strategy, clearly defined political responsibility and regular dialogue with the industry play?
   2. Financing & Growth
      How are existing funding programmes coordinated, and which instruments address start-ups, prototype development, production, market entry and business growth?
   3. Innovation Transfer
      How can games, simulation and XR technologies be transferred more effectively into business, public-sector applications and regional fields of use?
   4. Skills & Start-ups
      How are universities’ expertise and capabilities connected with spin-offs, business cooperation and long-term career opportunities within Saxony-Anhalt?
   5. Culture & Creative Value Creation
      How are games and XR recognised as cultural and expressive forms, creative productions and part of the cultural and creative industries?

When it comes to business financing, the parties’ responses reveal different political priorities. The following overview summarises only the specific instruments and approaches mentioned in their responses.

• Alliance 90/The Greens, the CDU and The Left explicitly support a cross-ministerial state strategy, clearly defined political responsibility and structured dialogue with the sector. The SPD considers developing the cluster profile, maintaining dialogue with the sector and developing a corresponding strategy to be useful, but has not yet formally established a dedicated cross-ministerial strategy or separate political responsibility in its programme. From the FDP’s perspective, a state strategy can be useful; initially, however, it prioritises concrete framework conditions and organically developing structures. The AfD supports clearly defined responsibilities and regular dialogue with the sector; it considers cross-ministerial cooperation particularly useful where it helps reduce bureaucracy and improve administrative efficiency.
• All six responses identify stronger links between universities, businesses, start-ups and/or networks as relevant to the further development of Saxony-Anhalt as a business location.
• On innovation transfer, Alliance 90/The Greens, the CDU and The Left name concrete publicly supported instruments such as regulatory sandboxes, pilot projects or innovation-oriented procurement. The AfD also considers pilot projects and regulatory sandboxes useful under certain conditions, while rejecting permanent subsidies for individual technologies or sectors. The SPD emphasises applied and transfer-oriented research as well as closer links between science and business, but does not commit to the specific instruments mentioned in the questionnaire. The FDP places greater emphasis on networks, framework conditions and individual initiative.

All six parties treat games and XR as politically relevant fields, but their approaches differ substantially in terms of the instruments they propose and the role assigned to government, public funding, existing structures and private initiative.

The differences are particularly visible in business financing:

The Greens emphasise funding coordination, innovation financing and venture capital. The CDU combines existing funding structures with Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt, state-backed loans and venture capital. The Left focuses on long-term funding structures, a stronger role for Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt and a regional investment fund.

The FDP prioritises simplification, deregulation and opening up media funding. The SPD proposes a start-up bonus and easier access to existing funding. The AfD stresses evaluation according to economic impact, bringing projects to market, private capital and technology-neutral support.

The parties also differ in how they position games and XR within cultural policy.

The Left explicitly recognises them as independent contemporary cultural forms. The SPD wants digital formats such as computer games to become part of the definition of culture and eligible for cultural funding. The Greens focus on digital-interactive cultural communication and cooperation between developers and cultural institutions. The CDU emphasises cultural communication and participation within existing funding frameworks. The FDP refers primarily to further developing the Cultural Funding Act and reducing bureaucracy. The AfD focuses on games and XR as tools for cultural communication while rejecting dedicated long-term games funding structures.

Across the responses received so far, the following issues remain only partially specified:

• Financing across the entire development cycle: The transitions from prototype development to production, pre-financing, market entry and sustainable business growth are addressed to varying degrees, but no response provides a fully developed financing chain covering all stages.
• Saxony-Anhalt DIGITAL CREATIVITY: The programme is explicitly mentioned in the joint questionnaire. None of the six responses received so far specifies in detail how it should be continued, developed or better coordinated with other funding instruments.
• Skills and career pathways: None of the responses provides a fully developed package covering all transitions from study and vocational training to university spin-offs, business growth and long-term employment opportunities.
• Innovation transfer and public-sector applications: The responses differ significantly in how specifically they address instruments for innovation transfer and public-sector applications. While some parties explicitly refer to regulatory sandboxes, pilot projects, transfer networks or innovation-oriented procurement, others focus primarily on general transfer, networking and framework conditions.

The following points are not summaries of individual party responses. They are issues that Games & XR Mitteldeutschland considers particularly important for further political discussion from the perspective of the sector.

We want to clarify:

• how reliable political responsibility and cross-ministerial coordination for games, XR and interactive technologies can be established;
• how a financing chain can be developed that covers start-ups and prototypes as well as production, pre-financing, market entry and business growth;
• how MDM games and XR funding, Sachsen-Anhalt DIGITAL CREATIVITY and existing start-up, digitalisation and innovation programmes can be better coordinated;
• how technology transfer can lead to more real-world applications, including regulatory sandboxes, public-sector pilot projects and innovation-oriented procurement – and how this can create reference projects and sustainable demand for regional providers;
• how universities, spin-offs and regional companies can be connected more effectively to create visible and long-term career opportunities;
• and how cultural and economic policy can recognise games and XR simultaneously as creative production, cultural expression, IP-based value creation and innovation technologies..

Games, XR and e-sports were deliberately considered as interconnected parts of a digital ecosystem in the joint questionnaire.

This GXR analysis focuses on regional development, business, innovation, skills and cultural policy. The e-sports-specific questions concerning organisational structures, events, youth work and social participation remain part of the joint questionnaire and can be explored separately in greater depth.

For the political position of each party, only its complete original response is authoritative.

Editorial status: 24 August 2026. No response had been received from BSW Saxony-Anhalt by that date.