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Plaion (formerly Koch Media) is a German-Austrian media company headquartered in
Höfen, Tyrol Höfen is a municipality in the district of Reutte (district), Reutte in the Austrian state of state of Tyrol, Tyrol. Geography Höfen lies southwest of Reutte on the left bank of the Lech (river), Lech. References

Cities and towns ...
, Austria, with an operating subsidiary based in
Planegg Planegg is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Würm, 13 km west of Munich (centre). Economy Koch Media has its head office in Planegg. It also hosts many biotech-companies, like ADVA ...
, Germany. The company was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz. The company operates video game publishing labels Deep Silver, Prime Matter and Ravenscourt, the video game developers
Warhorse Studios Warhorse Studios s.r.o. is a Czech video game developer based in Prague. Founded in July 2011 by Dan Vávra and Martin Klíma, the studio produced '' Kingdom Come: Deliverance'', which was released in February 2018. In February 2019, the comp ...
and
Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
, as well as a film distribution arm, Plaion Pictures. Koch Media's parent company, Koch Media Holding, was acquired by Swedish holding company
Embracer Group Embracer Group AB (formerly Nordic Games Licensing AB and THQ Nordic AB) is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company was established under the name Nordic Games Licensing in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Gro ...
(then known as THQ Nordic AB) in February 2018.


History


Early history (1994–2015)

Koch Media was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch (founder of Koch International) and his business partner, Klemens Kundratitz to market and distribute software. Koch Media operated out of offices in Germany and Austria, while a regional subsidiary, Koch Media Ltd., was opened in England. In 1995, Koch Media sold more than 250,000 software licenses, and in 1996, the company began distributing video games. Another regional subsidiary, Koch Media AG, was formed in Switzerland in 1998. A
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
, Koch Media Holding, was established in 2000 to unite Koch Media's business areas. The same year, Koch Media srl was formed as a regional subsidiary for Italy. In 2002, Koch Media established Deep Silver as a video game publishing division to "complement games that och Mediawas distributing". A film division, Koch Home Entertainment, was announced in June 2003 and formally formed in early October. A game label for mass-market games, Fantastic.tv, was announced in November 2003. In October 2005, Koch Media acquired French distributor SG Diffusion, which had recently signed with NCsoft to distribute their game ''
Guild Wars ''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplaye ...
''. SG Diffusion was renamed Koch Media SAS in January 2006. In February 2006, they established Koch Media Licensing GmbH as their license holding subsidiary. Another game label, named Spielen wir ( "Let's Play"), was created in July 2008 to publish
casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...
s under. The same month, Koch Media acquired Proein, the Spanish distribution arm of
SCi Entertainment SCi Entertainment Group plc (formerly The Sales Curve Limited and SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) Limited) was a British video game publisher based in London. The company was founded in 1988 by Jane Cavanagh and floated on the stock exchange in 1 ...
, to undisclosed terms. Proein was renamed Koch Media S.L.U. in January 2009. Regional offices for
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n and
Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...
countries, operated by the England subsidiary, were opened in February and July that year, respectively. In March 2012, Koch Media had 250 employees. The creation of another game publishing label named Ravenscourt, focusing on
simulation game Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...
s, was announced in March 2015. In August 2015, Koch Media Licensing GmbH was renamed Koch Films GmbH and absorbed the operations of the former Koch Home Entertainment division.


Under Embracer Group (2018–present)

On 14 February 2018, Koch Media Holding was acquired by
THQ Nordic AB Embracer Group AB (formerly Nordic Games Licensing AB and THQ Nordic AB) is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company was established under the name Nordic Games Licensing in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Grou ...
(later known as Embracer Group), a Swedish video game holding company. The purchase agreement was signed at 8:00 AM, and the deal was announced that same day. The deal comprised a purchase price of , split into in cash paid at closure of the deal (which was expected to occur later on the same day), in stock to be paid by 15 June 2018, and another in cash to be paid by 14 August 2018. The total consideration for Koch Media's share capital amounted to on a cash and debt-free basis. Koch and Kundratitz had owned 90% and 10% in the company, respectively, and both of them sold their shares, and THQ Nordic AB became the sole owner of the company. According to manager Reinhard Gratl, the sale primarily came about because Koch wanted to retire, and no one in his family was interested in taking over the business. He asked for all money to be paid to Koch Media instead of him, so the company could profit from the deal. Koch resigned from Koch Media on the same day. Koch Media's management, consisting of
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 ...
Kundratitz,
chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
Gratl and
chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
Stefan Kapelari, was subsequently joined by THQ Nordic AB's Erik Stenberg. On 13 February 2019, Koch Media entered into an agreement to acquire Czech developer
Warhorse Studios Warhorse Studios s.r.o. is a Czech video game developer based in Prague. Founded in July 2011 by Dan Vávra and Martin Klíma, the studio produced '' Kingdom Come: Deliverance'', which was released in February 2018. In February 2019, the comp ...
. Warhorse's game '' Kingdom Come: Deliverance'' had been co-published by Deep Silver exactly one year prior, and Koch Media paid , equal to Warhorse's 2018 earnings, to seize ownership over the studio and its
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
. The acquisition closed later that day. Also on the same day, it was announced that Koch Media had also acquired 18point2, an Australian publishing partner, for , aiming at establishing a stronger presence in the Australian market for Koch Media. The two acquisitions added 120 and 8 employees, respectively, to Koch Media's staff. In June 2019, THQ Nordic AB acquired KSM GmbH, a German distributor of
anime film is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
s, from its founder and
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 ...
(CEO), Benjamin Krause. KSM is to be merged into Koch Films. Also acquired was Gaya Entertainment, a
merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...
production company; Nordic Games Group, a holding company controlled by THQ Nordic AB CEO Lars Wingefors, sold the subsidiary to THQ Nordic AB for at the end of the latter's first
fiscal quarter A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ju ...
of 2019. Gaya Entertainment is to be consolidated with Koch Media's operations. On 14 August 2019, Koch Media agreed to fully acquire
racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic ra ...
developer
Milestone srl Milestone S.r.l. is an Italian video game developer based in Milan. Founded in 1994 by Antonio Farina, the studio specialises in racing games, especially motorcycle racing games. The company began under the name Graffiti, developing the car ra ...
and all of its intellectual property for paid in cash. The acquisition was completed later that day. Koch Films acquired Sola Media, a Stuttgart, Germany-based television-and-film licenser for children and family properties, in August 2020. Later that month, Koch Media opened offices in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, both headed by Kundratitz, to expand publishing operations in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. In September 2020, Koch Media acquired Vertigo Games, who develops, publishes, and distributes games exclusively for virtual reality platforms, including zombie survival
FPS FPS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "F.P.S." (''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''), an episode of the TV show ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' * '' fps magazine'', a defunct magazine about animation * ''The Fabulous Picture Show'', a televi ...
''
Arizona Sunshine ''Arizona Sunshine'' is a zombie survival first-person shooter video game released on December 6, 2016. The game is compatible with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, Valve Index and PlayStation VR virtual reality headsets. Gameplay ''Ariz ...
'' and action FPS ''After the Fall''. In November 2020, Koch Media acquired
Flying Wild Hog Flying Wild Hog Sp. z o.o. is a Polish video game developer based in Warsaw and founded in 2009. The company is best known for the 2013 reboot of ''Shadow Warrior'', and its 2016 sequel, ''Shadow Warrior 2''. History Flying Wild Hog was est ...
. In March 2021, Koch Media signed a €50 million co-publishing deal with
Starbreeze Studios Starbreeze Studios AB is a Swedish video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Stockholm. The studios's notable games developed include ''The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay'', ''Payday 2'' and ''Brothers: ...
to finance the production, release, and post-launch support of
co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
shooter ''Payday 3'', with Starbreeze Studios retaining ownership of the IP. Koch Media opened a new publishing division, Prime Matter, in June 2021, operating from its
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
headquarters.


Rebranding as Plaion

On 4 August 2022, Koch Media rebranded themselves as Plaion. On 18 October 2022, Plaion Pictures announced it had acquired British anime distribution company
Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...
for an undisclosed sum.


Offices

As of February 2018, Plaion is headquartered in Höfen, a municipality with a population of roughly 1,200 people that is located in Austria's
Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
region and close to
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, Germany. In Höfen, Plaion occupies an office complex in which the company employs 150 people in various departments. The property, as well as an adjacent plot, is owned by Embracer Group. In
Planegg Planegg is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Würm, 13 km west of Munich (centre). Economy Koch Media has its head office in Planegg. It also hosts many biotech-companies, like ADVA ...
, a municipality in Bavaria that is located close to
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Plaion operates a subsidiary branch also called Plaion GmbH.


Subsidiaries


See also

* List of Deep Silver games * List of Prime Matter games * List of Ravenscourt games


References


External links

* {{Deep Silver Austrian companies established in 1994 Embracer Group Mass media companies of Austria Mass media companies established in 1994 2018 mergers and acquisitions Economy of Tyrol (state)