The high standards for games set by the SdJ jury have led publishing houses to improve the quality of their game systems, graphics, and components. The show, first held in 1983, continues to grow in importance and attendance. This public exhibition of games now attracts about 150,000 visitors over four days. Although the Essen show is the largest, there are also large and important annual shows in Vienna, Stuttgart, Switzerland, and Munich, in addition to many smaller shows throughout Germany and Austria. Today there are a large number of respected game critics who regularly write interesting reviews of quality games.
Several magazines devoted to games support the increasing game-playing population.
This is a registered association devoted to promoting games as cultural properties and represents the interests of game authors. Since 1997, Munich has been home to a second annual meeting of game authors. The number of authors has multiplied in the last 20 years, which has led naturally to a larger supply of high quality game prototypes. We therefore see a constantly improving level of game design. New categories of games, such as adult games, communication games, fantasy games, and collectable card games, promote game-playing to new groups of buyers.