The ZDF special channel for young people, ZDFneo, will discontinue the format “Game Two” in the summer of 2025. In Game Two, a team from Rocketbeans accompanies the current gaming events weekly.
What the Rocketbeans say: At the Rocketbeans, who have been producing Game Two for ZDFneo since 2023, there are two pieces of news:
- The good news is that Game Two has been extended until summer 2025. There will be one show per week until then.
- But in the summer of 2025, ZDFneo will not continue the show.
- How things will continue with Game Two is unclear.
Game Two has critically addressed the development of the flop “Gollum”, which single-handedly sank one of the most important German gaming studios:
Gaming may generate €261 billion in revenue, but it is “not broad enough” for ZDFneo
Why is Game Two coming to an end? Game Two switched from Funk to ZDFneo in April 2023, but it also comes to an end here after two years.
ZDFneo states that it plans to expand its fiction offerings “for young people” and show offerings with a broader thematic scope.
This likely means: There is no longer any space for the niche topic “gaming” even at ZDFneo.
This is somewhat bizarre, considering that the global video game market is expected to generate approximately €261 billion in revenue and is generally seen as an important entertainment product that stands on an equal footing with films and music.
What is Game Two? Game Two is the only offering in German free TV that deals with the gaming market. It caused a stir, for example, in October 2023 with a documentary about Gollum: This was supposed to be the first AAA game from a Hamburg studio, but sealed its end.
The weekly episodes of Game Two summarize the most important topics in gaming from the week in a news format, primarily introduce new games, and evaluate them.
On YouTube, there are also lively panel formats in which editors explain which game that everyone likes they personally find stupid.
The Rocketbeans say: The creators say they regret the decision but are grateful to ZDFneo.
They believe in the product. After all, it has been running for 20 years – Game Two started in 2006 as Game One.
What lies behind it: This is likely ultimately an acknowledgment from the public broadcasters that they can no longer reach young viewers on linear television and see no chance of competing in the niche area of “gaming” against YouTube and Twitch.
Repeats of “Death in Paradise” are probably the better choice.
Whether “young viewers” really enjoy series that the ZDF produces with a modest budget is questionable, despite all love for creative solutions. Competing for the attention of young viewers with “Blockbustaz”, a comedy with Eko Fresh, or the plague drama “Sløborn” against House of Dragons and The Boys is just difficult.
Apart from Game Two, there is hardly any gaming on German television. Occasionally, gaming influencers are highlighted in documentary formats by ARD. In February 2024, for example, there was a documentary about AnniTheDuck that, admittedly, has aged poorly: “Here comes The Brain” – ARD documentary about up-and-coming shows a German Twitch streamer
