Piranha Bytes


Piranha Bytes GmbH is a German video game developer based in Essen. Founded in 1997, they are best known for their Gothic and Risen series of role-playing video games. As of May 2019, the studio has 32 employees and is a subsidiary of THQ Nordic.

History

Piranha Bytes was incorporated as Piranha Bytes Software GmbH in 1997 by Michael "Mike" Hoge, Tom Putzki, Stefan Nyul and Alex Brüggemann, then based in Bochum. In 1999, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of German publisher Phenomedia. Following a financial scandal, Phenomedia filed for insolvency in May 2002. By September 2002, Piranha Bytes' management had performed a management buyout and transferred Piranha Bytes' trademarks and intellectual property, including the rights to their Gothic series, from Phenomedia into a new entity, Pluto 13 GmbH, which assumed "Piranha Bytes" as its trading name. One of the four original founders remained with the new incorporation. In March 2004, Piranha Bytes was among the founders of G.A.M.E. Bundesverband. On 22 May 2019, THQ Nordic announced to have acquired the studio to undisclosed terms. At the time, the studio had 31 employees in its Essen-based offices. Through the acquisition Piranha Bytes was reincorporated as Piranha Bytes GmbH. By June, the company had 32 employees.

Games developed