Black Forest Games GmbH is a German

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

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...

. The company was founded in July 2012 by a team of 40 staff members, including

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Andreas Speer, previously employed by

Spellbound Entertainment Spellbound Entertainment AG was a German video game developer based in Offenburg. The company is best known for the '' Desperados'' series. They also developed '' Arcania: Gothic 4'', part of the ''Gothic'' series and later its expansion, '' A ...

, which filed for

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...

earlier that year. As of August 2017, it is a subsidiary of

THQ Nordic THQ Nordic GmbH (formerly Nordic Games GmbH) is an Austrian video game publisher based in Vienna. Formed in 2011, it is a publishing subsidiary of Embracer Group. Originally named Nordic Games, as was the parent company, both companies were re ...

. As of June 2019, the company employs 66 people.

History

Following the release of '' Arcania: Fall of Setarrif'', the game's developer,

, filed for

in March 2012. Upon completion, on 13 July 2012, it was announced that Black Forest Games was founded in

as a successor to Spellbound, employing 40 of the Spellbound's former 65 staff. Under these 40 was most of the former management, including

Andreas Speer. In July 2012, Black Forest Games started a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign for a new installment of ''The Great Giana Sisters'' tentatively titled ''Project Giana'', stating "''Project Giana'' is the grandchild of ''The Great Giana Sisters''". The game features music from ''The Great Giana Sisters'' original composer

Chris Huelsbeck Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for ''The Great Giana Sisters'' and the ''Turrican'' series. Career ...

and the Swedish "SID metal" band

Machinae Supremacy Machinae Supremacy is a Swedish/Finnish band that combines modern Heavy metal music, heavy metal, power metal and alternative rock with chiptunes. Self-defined as "SID metal", many of their songs use a SidStation that features the MOS Technology ...

. ''Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams'' was released on October 23, 2012 for PC with later releases on

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

, and

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

. ''Rogue Stormers'' was revealed at the

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...

2010, in San Francisco under the project name ''RavensDale'', although it has been in development since 2007. After an unsuccessful attempt on

in 2013 the game was put on hold. In a second attempt in early 2014 the game, then known as ''DieselStormers'', was successfully funded on Kickstarter and went to

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

early access in July 2014. Due to a trademark registration of ''DieselStormers'' by Diesel S.p.A.'s successful trademark lawsuit, Black Forest Games decided to change the name from ''DieselStormers'' to ''Rogue Stormers''. ''Fade to Silence'' was announced at

The Game Awards 2017 The Game Awards 2017 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2017, and took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 7, 2017. The event was hosted by Geoff Keighley, and was live streamed around the world across ...

. It is a

survival game Survival games are a sub-genre of action video games, which are usually set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by crafting tools, weapons, ...

set in a snow-covered forest, requiring the player to collect resources, build a refuge, and recruit others as followers to survive. The game entered

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

on 14 December 2017, and had its full release on 30 April 2019 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

. The game was published by

. On 7 June 2019, THQ Nordic announced a remake of the 2005 science fiction game ''

Destroy All Humans! ''Destroy All Humans!'' is an open world action-adventure video game franchise that is designed as a parody of Cold War-era alien invasion films. '' Destroy All Humans!'' and '' Destroy All Humans! 2'' are available for the PlayStation 2 and Xbo ...

'' is in development at Black Forest Studios, set for a release in 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The remake will feature content that was cut from the original release developed by Pandemic Studios. The game was officially announced in June 2019. An extended gameplay demo was launched at

E3 2019 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

. In August 2019, Google announced that the game will also be available for

Stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Baden-Württemberg German companies established in 2012 THQ Nordic divisions and subsidiaries Video game companies established in 2012 Video game companies of Germany Video game development companies Offenburg