Kalypso Media

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Kalypso Media Group GmbH
FormerlyKalypso Media GmbH (2006–2014)
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedAugust 16, 2006; 17 years ago (2006-08-16)
Founders
  • Simon Hellwig
  • Stefan Marcinek
Headquarters
Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate
,
Germany
Number of employees
150[1] (2021)
Websitekalypsomedia.com

Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Claymore Game Studios, and Nine Worlds Studios. Kalypso is best known for publishing Tropico, Sudden Strike, Dungeons and Railway Empire series.

History

Kalypso Media was founded on 16 August 2006 by Simon Hellwig and Stefan Marcinek.[1] One year later, a branch was opened in Bracknell, UK, and in June 2009, another in Ridgewood, USA. In 2009, the group opened its second UK outlet in the form of Kalypso Media Digital Ltd. in Leicester. Kalypso Media Digital Ltd. is responsible for the online marketing of its own games and the products of other providers.

In November 2008, it founded the subsidiary Realmforge Studios GmbH, based in Munich, and integrated Boxed Dreams, developer of Ceville.[2] At the same time, it acquired the rights to the Tropico series from Take Two Interactive, with the first Kalypso-published game in the series being Tropico 3.[2]

UK-based Ascaron filed for bankruptcy in April 2009.[3] Kalypso was able to acquire rights to its series DarkStar One, Patrician and Port Royale in June 2009, though left other assets like the Sacred series with Ascaron.[4] Kalypso also acquired fifteen former Ascaron employees to establish its second internal studio, Gaming Minds Studio, in Gütersloh, of which they held 60% ownership, the other 40% owned by Daniel Dumont and Kay Struve, former Ascaron employees that were named to run Gaming Minds.[5][6]

In July 2010, Berlin manufacturer The Games Company (TGC) filed for bankruptcy and in September, Kalypso took over, acquiring several brands owned by the insolvent company. Kalypso also brought in TGC's internal studio Silver Style Entertainment and created a third internal studio, Noumena Studios in Berlin.[7] The studio was rebranded as Skilltree Studios in 2014, but in March 2016, Kalypso opted to close the studio.[8]

Kalypso founded a sister company for mobile gaming development, Kalypso Media Mobile, in April 2014 in Berlin.[9] The studio’s first mobile and tablet games were released a year later in May 2015.

In January 2016, Stefan Marcinek sold his shares in the Kalypso and left the company, leaving Simon Hellwig as sole shareholder.[10]

Kalypso acquired the Commandos, Imperial Glory, and Praetorians series from Pyro Studios in July 2018. Pyro, whose work has been more focused on supporting Ilion Animation Studios, welcomed Kalypso's opportunity to bring their titles back to the market.[11] Kalypso later announced high-definition remasters of Commandos 2 and Praetorians for early 2020,[12] and the formation of its third internal studio, Claymore Game Studios, to develop new games in the Commandos series.[13] The company fully acquired the remaining ownership of Gaming Minds from Dumont and Struve in June 2020, with Dumont and Struve still remaining as the studio leads.[6]

In October 2021, it announced a new studio in Munich called Nine Worlds Studios, which is named after the nine worlds of Norse mythology. They will be responsible for creating a new Tropico entry. Project Manager Thomas Schneider, formerly of Aesir Interactive, was hired to lead in setting up the studio.[14][15]

On October 18, 2022, Kalypso announced that co-founder Simon Hellwig had passed away.[16]

Subsidiaries

Kalypso has several development studios:

  • Realmforge Studios was established in Munich in November 2008, incorporating the team of Boxed Dreams who had developed Ceville.[2] Realmforge oversees development on the series Dungeons and (since December 2020) Tropico
  • Gaming Minds Studios was established in Gütersloh in June 2009, following the bankruptcy of Ascaron, incorporating fifteen Ascaron developers into the team.[5] Gaming Minds develops games in the Railway Empire and Port Royale series.
  • Claymore Game Studios was established in Darmstadt in December 2019, and is working on a new game in the Commandos series.[17][13]
  • Nine Worlds Studios was established in Munich in October 2021, with Thomas Schneider, formerly of Aesir Interactive, hired as project manager. They would begin work on Tropico 7.[14][15]

Closed

  • In September 2010, Kalypso brought in The Games Company's (TGC) internal studio Silver Style Entertainment after TGC closed down in July 2010, and created a third internal studio, Noumena Studios in Berlin.[7] The studio was rebranded as Skilltree Studios in 2014, but in March 2016, Kalypso opted to close the studio.[8]

Games published

Release date Title Developer(s) Platform(s) Ref.
2021 Disciples: Liberation Frima Studio
2021 Spacebase Startopia Realmforge Studios
2020 Port Royale 4 Gaming Minds
2020 Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars Palindrome Interactive
2020 Commandos 2 - HD Remaster Yippee! Entertainment
2020 Praetorians - HD Remaster Torus Games
2019 Tropico 6 Limbic Entertainment
2018 Shadows: Awakening Games Farm
2018 Railway Empire Gaming Minds
2017 Dungeons 3 Realmforge Studios
2017 Vikings: Wolves of Midgard Games Farm
2017 Sudden Strike 4 Kite Games
2017 Urban Empire Reborn Games
2015 Crookz: The Big Heist Skilltree Studios
2015 Grand Ages: Medieval Gaming Minds
2015 Dungeons 2 Realmforge Studios
2014 Tropico 5 Haemimont Games
2013 Dark Realmforge Studios
2013 Rise of Venice Gaming Minds
2013 Alien Spidey Enigma Software
2013 Dollar Dash Candygun Games
2013 Omerta - City of Gangsters Haemimont Games
2012 Anna Dreampainters Software
2012 Sine Mora Digital Reality
2012 Legends of Pegasus NovaCore Studios
2012 Hard Reset: Extended Edition Flying Wild Hog
2012 Port Royale 3 Gaming Minds
2012 Jurassic Park: The Game Telltale Games
2012 Jagged Alliance: Back in Action Coreplay
2011 Global Ops: Commando Libya Spectral Games
2011 Airline Tycoon II B-Alive
2011 Air Conflicts: Secret Wars Games Farm
2011 Tropico 4 Haemimont Games
2011 Boulder Dash XL Catnip Games
2011 Revolution Under Siege SEP Reds
2011 Patrician IV: Rise of a Dynasty Gaming Minds
2011 The First Templar Haemimont Games
2011 Elements of War Lesta Studio
2011 Dungeons Realmforge Studios
2010 Disciples III .dat media
2010 Pole Position 2010 destraX Entertainment
2010 DarkStar One: Broken Alliance (Xbox 360) Ascaron
2010 Patrician IV: Conquest by Trade Gaming Minds
2010 Darkfall Aventurine SA
2010 M.U.D. TV Realmforge Studios
2009 Tropico 3 Haemimont Games
2009 Time of Shadows SkyFallen Entertainment
2009 Dawn of Magic 2 SkyFallen Entertainment
2009 Ceville Realmforge Studios
2009 Grand Ages: Rome Haemimont Games
2008 Winter Challenge 2008
2008 AGON - The Lost Sword of Toledo Private Moon Studios
2008 Imperium Romanum Haemimont Games
2008 Political Machine 2008 Stardock
2008 Racing Team Manager destraX Entertainment
2007 Jack Keane Deck13 Interactive
2007 Hollywood Pictures 2 Sayonara Software
2007 Campus
2007 Star Assault GamesArk
2007 Theatre of War 1C Company

References

  1. ^ a b Fröhlich, Petra (16 August 2021). "Kalypso Media feiert heute 15. Geburtstag" [Today, Kalypso Media celebrates its 15th birthday]. GamesWirtschaft (in German). Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Jenkins, David (8 November 2008). "Kalypso Forms Realmforge Studios, Acquires Tropico 3". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Ascaron Entertainment GmbH acquisition. German publisher's brands and assorted other bric-a-brac bought by Kalypso Media".
  4. ^ Jenkins, David (4 July 2009). "Kalypso grabs Ascaron assets, founds new studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b Cifaldi, Frank (19 June 2009). "Ascaron vets form new Gaming Minds studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b Kerr, Chris (9 June 2020). "Kalypso Media has acquired Port Royale developer Gaming Mind Studios". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  7. ^ a b Graff, Kris (22 September 2010). "Kalypso Acquires Action RPG Demonicon, Other IP From The Games Company". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  8. ^ a b Günther, Von Yves (30 March 2016). "Skilltree Studios - Kalypso schließt Berliner Studio". Gameswelt.de (in German). Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  9. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (3 April 2014). "Kalypso Media launches mobile arm". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Hellwig buys out Marcinek in Kalypso MBO". MCV/Develop. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  11. ^ Donnelly, Joe (12 July 2018). "Commandos acquired by Kalypso Media, plans 'completely new games'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  12. ^ Wales, Matt (13 November 2019). "Commandos 2, Praetorians HD remasters get January release date on PC". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  13. ^ a b Handrahan, Matthew (2 April 2020). "Third internal Kalypso studio revealed as Claymore Game Studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  14. ^ a b Jeffrey Rousseau (1 October 2021). "Kalypso announces new studio in Munich". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  15. ^ a b Chris Kerr (4 October 2021). "Kalypso Media forms Nine Worlds Studios to work on Tropico 7". Game Developer. Informa. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  16. ^ "We are still lacking words – and those we had to find will never be enough". Twitter. Kalypso Media. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  17. ^ Blake, Vikki (11 December 2019). "Kalypso Media opens new studio in Frankfurt". MCV/Develop. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

External links

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