Piranha Bytes has shut down, Bjorn Pankratz founds new studio

[Berengar]

Ctrl + F to pay respects

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Björn should start a new IP called Baroque (an evolution of Gothic).

Bjorn is a hanger-on. The original designers of the Gothic franchise don't even work on games anymore. Dieter Hildebrandt does urban planning, Bert Speckels and Ulf Wohlers are engineering programmers. Ulf Wohlers also helped to create DOSBox.

Sensible choices. Game dev is the worst branch of software development. Good one on the DosBox dude.

 

[Cohesion]

Björn should

Retire. And don't try to grift by milking nostalgia like Tim Cain.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Saw this in mike hoge's game webpage:

WHO'S RIPPING OFF WHO NOW!!?

 

[Raghar]

who owns the gothic rights now?

THQ Nordic does. They have owned the rights since buying Piranha Bytes in 2019.

So, they bought studio, milked German government of money, then they forced ELEX developers to release monstrosity that forced studio into the ground, and then they closed studio.

So basically they see something popular like Warhorse studio, or Piranha bytes, they buy it and then they force them to do shit.

 

[Fedora Master]

Björn should

Retire. And don't try to grift by milking nostalgia like Tim Cain.

These people never stop.

 

[sosmoflux]

Björn should start a new IP called Baroque (an evolution of Gothic).

Bjorn is a hanger-on. The original designers of the Gothic franchise don't even work on games anymore. Dieter Hildebrandt does urban planning, Bert Speckels and Ulf Wohlers are engineering programmers. Ulf Wohlers also helped to create DOSBox.

Tell us more
Feed us lore

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

The first game from his new studio will be

Gothick - Eleks The Rizen

 

[Tavar]

Björn should start a new IP called Baroque (an evolution of Gothic).

Bjorn is a hanger-on. The original designers of the Gothic franchise don't even work on games anymore. Dieter Hildebrandt does urban planning, Bert Speckels and Ulf Wohlers are engineering programmers. Ulf Wohlers also helped to create DOSBox.

Neither Hildebrandt, nor Speckels nor Wohlers are credited as designers for Gothic on Mobygames. There are credited as programmers. Alexander Brüggemann, Michael Hoge, Stefan Nyul and Tom Putzki are credited as designers. What makes you think that Hildebrandt et al. were involved in the design? Have they given any talks on that subject?

 

[Maxie]

Björn should start a new IP called Baroque (an evolution of Gothic).

Bjorn is a hanger-on. The original designers of the Gothic franchise don't even work on games anymore. Dieter Hildebrandt does urban planning, Bert Speckels and Ulf Wohlers are engineering programmers. Ulf Wohlers also helped to create DOSBox.

Neither Hildebrandt, nor Speckels nor Wohlers are credited as designers for Gothic on Mobygames. There are credited as programmers. Alexander Brüggemann, Michael Hoge, Stefan Nyul and Tom Putzki are credited as designers. What makes you think that Hildebrandt et al. were involved in the design? Have they given any talks on that subject?

They're the original designers of Finster, the prototype of Gothic. The formed a mini-studio called Mad Scientists and pitched Finster to Attic Entertainment Software, Sunflowers IES, and Greenwood Entertainment. Greenwood was the one to accept it.

In August '96 Greenwood commissioned them to create a game based on Finster. Bruggemann, Hoge, Putzki and Nyul were Greenwood employees sent to help out with Finster after they completed work on DOG: Fight for Your Life and on Metalizer. In August '97 Greenwood bankrupted, and the team took over the Finster/Gothic project as a newly established studio called Piranha Bytes. Hildebrandt, Speckels, and Wohlers did not formally join PB, remaining credited as Mad Scientists.

 

[Latelistener]

They only credited for Gothic and Gothic II. No wonder it went to shit after that.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Piranha Bytes is dead. Long live those gay nerds that made Drova: Foreskin, the new Piranha Bytes.