Spellbound Entertainment AG was a German video game developer based in

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; 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 administrative capital ...

. The company is best known for the '' Desperados'' series. They also developed '' Arcania: Gothic 4'', part of the ''Gothic'' series and later its expansion, '' Arcania: Fall of Setarrif''. It was Spellbound's first entry into the series, which was previously developed by

Piranha Bytes Piranha Bytes GmbH is a German video game developer based in Essen. Founded in 1997, it is best known for their '' Gothic'' and '' Risen'' series of role-playing video games. The studio is a subsidiary of THQ Nordic and, as of August 2021, ...

History

Spellbound was founded in 1994 by Armin Gessert. In 2007, they developed '' Arcania: Gothic 4'', the seventh overall release and second spin-off from the ''Gothic'' series. In 2012 the company went into administration. On 13th July 2012, they were re-founded as

Black Forest Games Black Forest Games GmbH is a German video game developer based in Offenburg. The company was founded in July 2012 by a team of 40 staff members, including chief executive officer Andreas Speer, previously employed by Spellbound Entertainment, ...

, employing 40 of the former 65 staff members.

Games developed

* ''Perry Rhodan: Operation Eastside'' (1995;

Fantasy Productions Fantasy Productions Medienvertriebsgesellschaft GmbH (a.k.a. FanPro) is a German publishing company based in Erkrath. History The company was founded in 1983 by Ulrich Kiesow, Werner Fuchs and Hans Joachim Alpers to produce small metal miniatu ...

) * '' Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive'' (2001;

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. ...

) * Untitled ''Desperados'' addon (unreleased) * '' Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood'' (2002; Mindscape,

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Wanadoo Edition Microids (formerly Microïds) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners (including Activisio ...

) * '' Airline Tycoon'' (1998–2003;

, Monte Cristo,

RuneSoft Runesoft GmbH, stylised as RuneSoft (founded as e.p.i.c. interactive entertainment gmbh), is a German publisher founded in 2000 that ports games to alternative platforms such as Linux, Mac OS X, AmigaOS, MorphOS, and magnussoft ZETA. Alongside t ...

) * ''Smoking Colts'' (2003; Spellbound Entertainment) * '' Starsky & Hutch'' (2003;

Empire Interactive Empire Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and went out of business in 2009. History Empire Interacti ...

) * '' Chicago 1930'' (2003;

) * '' Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge'' (2006; Atari) * '' Helldorado'' (2007;

Viva Media Encore Software, LLC ("Encore") is a Delaware limited liability company focused on software sales, distribution and software development. In November 2008, Encore announced an expanded license with Riverdeep. Under the terms of the agreement Encor ...

* ''

Giana Sisters DS ''Giana Sisters DS'', also known on other handheld platforms as ''Giana Sisters'', is a platform game developed by Spellbound Entertainment in cooperation with Bitfield GmbH for the Nintendo DS, iPad, iPhone, and Android. It was published by D ...

'' (2009;

Destineer Destineer, Inc. was an American umbrella company covering a holding company, a video game publisher, and a video game developer that was based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The company was founded by Peter Tamte, former executive vice-president of ...

, DTP Entertainment) * '' Arcania: Gothic 4'' (2010;

JoWooD Entertainment JoWooD Entertainment AG (formerly JoWooD Productions Software AG, commonly referred to as JoWooD) was an Austrian video game publisher that was founded in 1995. JoWooD went into administration in 2011 and all assets were purchased by Nordic Games ...

DreamCatcher Interactive DreamCatcher Interactive Inc. (also known as DreamCatcher Games) was a Canadian video game publisher founded in 1996 by Richard Wah Kan. It was best known for its adventure games. In 2006, the company became a subsidiary of JoWooD Entertainmen ...

) * '' Arcania: Fall of Setarrif'' (2011;

Nordic Games The Nordic Games were the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and were held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden's Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of ...

) * ''Desperados Gangs'' (cancelled).

References

External links

* Video game development companies Video game companies established in 1994 Video game companies disestablished in 2012 Defunct video game companies of Germany German companies established in 1994 German companies disestablished in 2012 {{Europe-videogame-company-stub