Christian Ulrich on what Spielwarenmesse 2025 offers visitors from the world of design and invention

Christian, it’s great to connect. Spielwarenmesse is fast approaching! How is prep going for next year’s show?
Preparations for the 74th Spielwarenmesse are in full swing – the current level of registrations is very pleasing. We expect to occupy a larger exhibition area by the start of the fair. This will be helped by our new arrangement of halls, which includes the multiple prize-winning Hall 3C for the first time. In addition, there will be further growth opportunities for some product groups.

Overall, we have received a lot of positive feedback from the industry. We are delighted to be once again a central source of inspiration for the international toy community.

Spielwarenmesse welcomes visitors across the toy and game landscape – including professional inventors and design studios. Why do you feel it remains a must-attend event for this community?
As the world’s leading B2B event, the Spielwarenmesse is the central meeting place for the international toy industry. Two halls – namely 10.0 and 10.1, as well as Foyer 10.0 in the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre – will be dedicated to board games in the coming year. Numerous national and international games publishers will be exhibiting here. This offers game inventors a perfect environment for networking and exchanging ideas – even after the fair closes on Thursday. This is when RedNight takes place again. Exhibitors invite attendees to parties at their booths to round off the day in a relaxed atmosphere.

2025 will also see the return of your Game Inventors Convention. For anyone new to this, can you talk us through who it’s for, and what it looks to do?
The Game Inventors Convention takes place for the third time during the Spielwarenmesse, on Friday January 31st. This is where we bring game designers together with the agencies’ editorial teams. They can present their ideas and prototypes at their own tables in NCC Mitte, in the Brussels and Munich exhibition halls and on Level 1 of the foyer. There is a great deal of interest at the international level – in addition to Germany, there are already entries from Italy, Spain, the UK, Israel, Hungary and the USA. Registration is open until December via our website.

To round off the event, the GamingHour will take place from 6pm. In a relaxed atmosphere, all participants in the Game Inventors Convention, games publishers and media representatives can make contacts, swap ideas and come together over snacks, drinks and music to try out exciting new ideas.

A terrific opportunity; we’ll be there. In addition to this, do you feel there’s more to do with this community at shows like Spielwarenmesse and SPIEL moving forward?
With Spielwarenmesse and SPIEL, we create two central meeting points for the entire board game community every year. Although there is an active scene of game inventors and illustrators in many countries, they often lack a local platform for dialogue and marketing opportunities for their creative game ideas. This offers our two world-leading fairs enormous potential to become even more international. Game inventors and illustrators remain important target groups for us.

As well as inventors, plenty of in-house designers and R&D leaders will be at the show. Do you feel Spielwarenmesse provides great source of creative fuel and inspiration to designers?
Certainly! The international network of the Spielwarenmesse enables both newcomers and established industry giants to quickly and easily make new contacts and maintain existing relationships. For game designers in particular, this is possible not only at the Spieleerfindermesse but also during the entire duration of the fair in the SpieleCafé (Hall 11.0), which is located near the games product group.

Our interactive expert presentations on current industry topics in the Toy Business Forum in Hall 3A will also provide fresh impetus. Two Specials in Eingang Mitte, the central entrance, will provide further inspiration. While the ToyTrends ‘Anime & Friends’ and ‘Healthy Heroes’ present the latest trends within the toy industry, the Special Area Toys for Kidults next door is dedicated to the group of adults who play. It presents product highlights from the areas of ‘Tabletop Games’, ‘Creative Fantasy’ and ‘Collectibles’.

Lots to check out. And what helps you have ideas for the shows? What fuels your creativity?
Our sources of inspiration are diverse. We are in close dialogue with the industry throughout the year. We are a member of associations and have a trade fair advisory board made up of manufacturers and retailers who provide us with important feedback. We also visit many toy shows around the world.

With our ‘Spielwarenmesse Dialogue’ series of events, we are also directly on site in numerous countries and receive many valuable suggestions from industry experts and opinion leaders. And finally, we are supported at the Spielwarenmesse by an 11-member TrendCommittee consisting of experienced international trend scouts, market researchers and journalists. Together we identify each year’s ToyTrends.

Last question! Away from the show itself, what’s your top tip for making the most out of the trip?
After the trade fair closes, numerous restaurants and bars in the heart of Nuremberg’s Old Town invite you to round off the day with culinary delights – with specialities from Franconian cuisine such as the famous Nuremberg grilled sausages, for example. The regional beers and wines are also perfect for raising a glass with new and existing business partners.

An absolute must for every trade fair guest is a visit to the historic Old Town with its mighty castle, winding alleyways and numerous half-timbered houses. This walk can easily be combined with a detour to the Toy Museum, which brings Nuremberg’s more than 600-year tradition as a city of toys to life.

Fantastic. Thanks Christian. And inventors interested in attending Spielwarenmesse’s Game Inventors Convention should head to: https://www.spielwarenmesse.de/de/spieleerfindermesse/

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