Ascaron Entertainment was a

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Founded as Ascon by Holger Flöttmann in 1991 and later renamed in October 1996 due to the possible confusion with the Swiss company Ascom AG, the company produced titles primarily for the PC until it became insolvent in 2009.

Background and history

Ascaron had its headquarters in

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...

, a town in western Germany. It had a development studio in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

and an international office in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Ascaron had a particular focus on strategy and management games. Among its early successes were the ''

Patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

'' series (a trading simulation) and the '' On the Ball'' series (a soccer team management simulation). More recently, the company had developed games such as '' Port Royale'' (a pirate/trading simulation game), ''

Sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

'' (an RPG) and '' Darkstar One'' (a space combat simulation). Ascaron was also known for publishing or distributing many games from smaller developers and publishers. Examples of games distributed by Ascaron in the UK include King's Bounty: The Legend, Audiosurf and several games in the

TrackMania ''TrackMania'' is a series of racing games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo DS and Wii developed by Nadeo and Firebrand Games. Instead of following the usual trend of choosing a set car and track to ...

-series. The company distributed games from other European publishers, such as and

Focus Home Interactive Focus Entertainment (formerly Focus Home Interactive) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris, France. Founded in 1996, Focus has published and distributed original titles such as ''Sherlock Holmes'', ''TrackMania'', ''Runa ...

. In April 2009, the company was unable to pay its debts and went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

citing the extended development time of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel as the reason.Sacred Developer Ascaron Files for Bankruptcy, Currently in Takeover Talks
''shacknews.com'' The company continued trading in the hope that a solution could be found, but the company was ultimately dissolved in July 2009, with

Kalypso Media Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Clay ...

purchasing many of the licenses and assets from Ascaron Entertainment, with the notable exception of the licence for Sacred, which was acquired by Deep Silver (Germany).

Gaming Minds Studios Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Clay ...

was then launched by Kalypso and former Ascaron employees. 15 former Ascaron developers joined the Gaming Minds Studios. As of April 2010, Ascaron UK was still in operation, acting as a distributor for other publishers. Customers include

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...

Games

*'' The Patrician'' (1992) *'' On the Ball'' (Original title: ''Anstoss'') (1993) *''

Hanse - Die Expedition ''Hanse: Die Expedition'' is a strategic business simulation game released in 1994 by Ascon. The game was not released in an English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: ...

'' (1994) *''Elisabeth I'' (1995) *''Pole Position'' (1996) *''

On the Ball 2 ''On the Ball'' is a football management game series from the German developers Ascaron, former name Ascon. The premiere title in the series is ''On the Ball''. The player is managing a football club in the English League (in the original vers ...

'' (1997) *''Extreme 500'' (1998) *''

On the Ball 3 ''On the Ball'' is a football management game series from the German developers Ascaron, former name Ascon. The premiere title in the series is ''On the Ball''. The player is managing a football club in the English League (in the original vers ...

'' (2000) *''

Patrician II ''Patrician II: Quest for Power'', entitled ''Patrizier 2: Geld und Macht'' in Germany, is the second video game from developer Ascaron in their ''Patrician'' series. The sequel to '' The Patrician'', it is a game simulating trading, piracy, polit ...

'' (2000) *''

On the Ball Action ''On the Ball'' is a football management game series from the German developers Ascaron, former name Ascon. The premiere title in the series is ''On the Ball''. The player is managing a football club in the English League (in the original vers ...

'' (2001) *''Ballerburg'' (2001) *''

Big Scale Racing ''Big Scale Racing'' is a 2002 racing video game by BumbleBeast. Development The studio began as a subsidiary of digital company Virtual Environments Systems & Consultancy (VESC), which was spun-off to create PC CD-ROM games on April 1, 2001. ...

'' (2002) *'' Patrician III: Rise of the Hanse'' (2002) *'' Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates'' (2002) *''Hyper Rails'' (2003) *''

'' (2004) *''

Arena Wars ''Arena Wars'' is an action and real-time strategy game released by Tri Synergy and Ascaron Entertainment in 2004. Gameplay The game is notable for combining strategy and shooter elements in gameplay. The limited unit choices (6) and specials (on ...

'' (2004) *'' Port Royale 2'' (2004) *'' Tortuga: Pirates of the New World'' (US title: ''Pirate Hunter'') (2004) *'' The Great Art Race'' (Original title: ''Vermeer 2'') (2004) *''

Sacred Underworld ''Sacred'' is a 2004 action role-playing game developed by the German company Ascaron and published by Take 2 Interactive. It is set on the magical continent of Ancaria, with characters of various races (dark elf, vampiress, dwarf, etc.) each w ...

'' (2005) *'' DarkStar One'' (2006) *'' Tortuga: Two Treasures'' (2007) *'' Sacred 2: Fallen Angel'' (2008) *''

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

'' (2008)

References

External links

Official website
(offline, archived 2008) * {{Ascaron Defunct video game companies of Germany Video game companies established in 1992 Video game companies disestablished in 2009 Video game development companies Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia

Background and history

Games

See also

References

External links