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 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 ...

and, as of August 2021, employs 33 people.

History

Alex Brüggemann, Michael "Mike" Hoge, Stefan Nyul, and Tom Putzki founded Piranha Bytes in Bochum in 1997, incorporating it as Piranha Bytes Software GmbH. In 1999, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of the German publisher Phenomedia. Piranha Bytes' first game, '' Gothic'', was released in 2001. Shortly thereafter, Brüggemann left the company to work on smaller game projects, eventually designing '' The Settlers: Rise of an Empire''. He died on 19 January 2013 after a long illness. Following a financial scandal at Phenomedia, the parent company 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 ...

in May 2002. Piranha Bytes' management performed a management buyout, concluded in September that year, and transferred the studio's trademarks and

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 ...

, including the rights to the ''Gothic'' series, to Pluto 13 GmbH, a new entity that assumed "Piranha Bytes" as its

trading name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

. Only one of the four original founders remained with the new incorporation. In March 2004, Piranha Bytes was among the founders of . On 22 May 2019,

announced that it had acquired the studio to undisclosed terms. At the time, Piranha Bytes had 31 employees in its Essen offices. Through the acquisition, the company was reincorporated as Piranha Bytes GmbH. By June that year, it had 32 employees.

Games developed

References

External links

* {{THQ Nordic 2019 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Essen German companies established in 1997 THQ Nordic divisions and subsidiaries Video game companies established in 1997 Video game companies of Germany Video game development companies