Piranha Bytes has shut down, Bjorn Pankratz founds new studio

[Infinitron]

English version: https://www.cdaction.pl/newsy/piran...nd-of-the-studio-behind-gothic-risen-and-elex

Piranha Bytes closed. The end of the studio behind Gothic, Risen and Elex​

The creators of Gothic had problems before, but - as our sources informed us - at the end of June, their over 20-year adventure in the industry ended.

CD-Action source (a Piranha Bytes employee, with whom we had been in contact since the first information about the studio's crisis situation) informed us, that the company responsible for the creation of Gothic ceased operations at the end of June.

The crisis had been going on for a long time, but from time to time investors appeared on the horizon interested in helping the studio continue its operations. According to the information provided to us, the project was expected to be financed in the amount of 3 million euros. After all, Piranha Bytes remained one of the most popular game developers in Germany. Unfortunately, in the end, Piranha was not bought out, and the financing from Embracer let them operate only until June 2024. In the meantime, many employees had left to the company, opting for more secure employment. A few days before the material was published, the company's office looked like this:

Our source told us, that - after the possible buyout - Piranha Bytes planned to set a new direction, in contrast to the last games created under the command of Bjorn Pankratz (who, together with his wife, left Piranha Bytes in November last year and today announced the founding of the Pithead studio), i.e. the Elex series, and to create a new dark fantasy game on Unreal Engine 5. The new game was supposed to resemble Gothic, to which Piranha Bytes did not have the rights. In December, the lighting and animations were further refined, which, according to the informant, had previously been the cause of considerable criticism from players.

The last CEO of Piranha Bytes was Michael Rueve. At this point, he has not commented on the fate of the company, but according to our information, the studio will most likely not make any official statements, allowing itself to leave peacefully and quietly.

 

[cvv]

The general conclusion is that they were just making the same game that aged badly, although you all know that wasn't the case.

That they have been making the same game for the last 25 years, that's absolutely the case.

That it aged badly... for zoomers sure. For the fans? Nope.

The real problem with PB is they stopped caring. Risen 3 and Elex 2 were so tired, so completely washed out, without even trying to to something exciting or interesting. Yes Elex 1 was a lot of fun but mainly due to the novel setting. Stripped off that it was still the same tired, badly balanced nuGothic.

Even I was tempted for a while by the argument the formula just wore out... but then I played Archolos and realized the formula is still fine. More than fine, it's a fucking blast. It just has to be handled by someone who gives a shit.

All in all, it's a sad day for RPGs and gayming in general. Doubly so for superfans like me. But maybe the time was just up for this outfit. It had a good run, made the world a better place but at the end it was a lifeless, grey husk. RIP.

 

[Morgoth]

PB already started bleeding talent after G2NotR and G3. That they kept holding out for so long is actually more surprising.

 

[:Flash:]

All the relevant people have left Piranha Bytes ages ago.
Pankratz was the only one left, but that he is credited as "administration" and "quality assurance" on Gothic 1 says everything about what the others thought of his creative and technical skills.
I don't know how he ended up on the team, but the origin story of Gothic is that a group of students had created an engine and wanted to create an Ultima Underworld clone, and approached a team of devs working at Greenwood. Pankratz was in neither group. The student group is credited with engine development, the other group all has Greenwood credits before Gothic, he has neither.

 

[Multidirectional]

was designed for mouse and keyboard

Yes, badly.

Yes, they managed to make console-like controls while making a game for mouse and keyboard. Some genius shit there. Not that I found controls very hard to get used to though. But Risen 1 definitely felt like Gothic with better controls to me. The last of their best games. Elex still managed to captivate me despite being very flawed, but I'm not sure I even want to try the second part after hearing from many that it's way worse.

 

[Humanophage]

I think that it was ELEX itself (not ELEX 2) which doomed PB. ELEX 2 didn't sell so poorly just because it was worse then the first game (allegedly, I have never played it) or just because it was released in a poor time slot. It sold so poorly because ELEX just isn't palatable to a lot of PB fans. I tried ELEX when it first released and couldn't get into it because it was so ugly and janky even for PB standards and because the scenario was so weird. I never bothered with ELEX 2 as a result. This seems to be a general pattern given how much lower the review numbers for ELEX 2 are then for the first game (5500 vs. 18,000). Hence, the idea to keep doing ELEX after ELEX 2 is completely retarded.

I liked ELEX 1 a lot. It has great exploration, good map philosophy, and a reasonably innovative setting (postapoc European 80s in the style of Angst).

Frankly, people have trash tier-taste in RPGs. Mouth-breather games like Oblivion and beautiful but deeply flawed games like Witcher 3 (one of the worst itemizations, trash combat) get very popular, but the moment a game gets a bit more complicated and free-form, it's doomed. For comparison, it's not nearly as bad for strategies. I think people just want RPGs to be either machinimas or action games.

 

[dutchwench]

This would have been prevented if people leased from their real estate business. We could have had the Gothic 4 we wanted...

 

[Supermedo]

Gothic was the very first game I ever played that offered choice and control. It blew my fucking mind back then! I could actually choose what to say and do, unlike the JRPGs I used to play where the story was linear.

I'm not surprised they closed down, especially after playing Elex II. It's the first game I've seen where the sequel has worse graphics and runs worse than its predecessor., they improved the combat slightly but everything else was downgrade.

 

[0sacred]

Neutral about this. I've played several but really enjoyed none of their games.

And the new studio doesn't inspire confidence with its "RPG elements".

 

[:Flash:]

This would have been prevented if people leased from their real estate business. We could have had the Gothic 4 we wanted...

This is what's usually done if you decide to buy you office location instead of renting it. And there can be good reasons to do so, especially in the low-interest-rate environment we used to have. The real estate company will rent out the real estate to your own company.
I know a guy who founded a successful company (since sold with more than 200 employees) and he did exactly that.

 

[Alienman]

Aren't Piranha Bytes making a mec game or something? What happens to that?

 

[Infinitron]

Aren't Piranha Bytes making a mec game or something? What happens to that?

That's Piranha Games: https://piranhagames.com/

 

[luj1]

Ironically ELEX killed this company

 

[Black]

Another legendary Polish studio down, sad.

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Damn, what a shame for Krauts and Polacks everywhere. Here's hoping the spirit of Eurojank still goes on with one of its stalwarts gone.

 

[GloomFrost]

I mean its all very, very sad and upsetting but come on stop kidding yourselves Pirahna Bytes stopped existing ages ago. They were lucky enough to get a second chance after G3 and their last real good game was Risen 1. Only downhill from there. (and yes even Elex was incredibly sub par).

 

[Alienman]

Ironically ELEX killed this company

Well, ELEX 2 did.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Going indie might be a good thing for them, mismanagement aside. The thing that always hurt them is that after the first two Gothic games they were always lagging behind their competitors when it came to technical aspects. ELEX looked like a PS3 games IMO. This had always hurt them, sure their games were jank incarnate but if they were good looking jank reviewers would give them some slack. After all combat in TES games was always garbage and these games were considered to be all-time classics according to press.
But we're in a golden era of retro gaming. FPS used to be a genre judged most harshly for the graphics. Nowadays everyone and their mom is making a boomer shooter. Many of which would make Quake 3 look like a a technical marvel. So why not make a boomer RPG? People would pay for another Gothic 2 with slightly more user friendly interface if the quality was similar to the original.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Can't wait for the next totally original Gothic/Risen/ELEX clone

 

[Cohesion]

Damn, what a shame for Krauts and Polacks everywhere. Here's hoping the spirit of Eurojank still goes on with one of its stalwarts gone.

Owlcat carries the janky torch now!

 

[Hobo Elf]

Sad to see them go even if nothing of value was lost. ELEX was a good game but it was probably good by accident.

 

[NaturallyCarnivorousSheep]

was designed for mouse and keyboard

Yes, badly.

Yes, they managed to make console-like controls while making a game for mouse and keyboard. Some genius shit there. Not that I found controls very hard to get used to though. But Risen 1 definitely felt like Gothic with better controls to me. The last of their best games. Elex still managed to captivate me despite being very flawed, but I'm not sure I even want to try the second part after hearing from many that it's way worse.

For the last time look at the pitches and early marketing material. They explicitly said it has 14 button controls.

Basic Playstation gamepad has:
4 directional keys
4 face keys
4 bumpers
Start button
Select button

4+4+4+1+1=14

The game was meant to be a console title it just outgrew the hardware so it became PC only.

 

[Humanophage]

Damn, what a shame for Krauts and Polacks everywhere. Here's hoping the spirit of Eurojank still goes on with one of its stalwarts gone.

Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians as well. Popularity of Gothic 2:

Risen:

ELEX:

 

[Lyre Mors]

Sad it has to end like this, on ELEX 2 of all games, but it's probably for the best. ELEX really did seem like a fluke anomaly. Either, RIP Piranha Bytes. Thanks for bringing me some of my favorite games of all time.

 

[Skinwalker]

They deserved to get shut down after crapping out the Gothic 3 abomination.