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Gaming incubator: A blueprint for leveraging network effects in business building

On 16 March 2026, xplr:media in Bavaria published a good summary of and an interview with me about the partnership between Burda and Unternehmer TUM and the gaming incubator we are building together. This is a great example for leveraging network effects in business building. We need more of that in Europe: Partnerships between universities, incubators, start-ups and large industrial corporations.

Gaming is the dominant consumer medium of our time: 3.6 billion people play. Gen Z spends 3x more time in gaming environments than on all social media channels combined. And most importantly, games are Gen Alpha’s number one media consumption channel (first generation in history). Branded game experiences receive 500x more engagement than social media posts. The global advertising spend in gaming is still lagging behind (only 5% of the global advertising spend), but this will change very soon.

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A view through the AI fog

What a tech week in the Bay Area. I had the chance to attend both, Nvidia’s GTC and Andreessen Horowitz speedrun demo day. The Game Developers Conference was also in town.

AI is the future of intellectual property which is at the core of democracy and modern economy. Hence, AI sovereignty should not have a defensive touch, but it is key for each country and corporation that they have control over their AI capabilities they need and their data to be able to shape their future. Uljan Sharka, CEO and founder of igenius gave a great speech at GTC about it.

At speedrun, 41 impressive early stage ventures in the areas of gaming and other areas presented. And again, AI is the “game-changer” and disrupting entire industries with incredible speed. For the first time, a game from China was top ranked on the gaming distribution platform Steam. The other important factor became very clear again: the much higher early adoption of users and businesses in the US is a key competitive advantage. These early ventures get out of the gate much faster, with higher user and engagement numbers which again puts them into a position to improve their products much faster.