Summary
German developerPiranha Byteshas reportedly been shut down. Best known for its seminalGothicseries, theTHQ Nordicsubsidiary has been in business for 27 years.
While the studio’s shutdown has yet to be officially confirmed, it does not come out of the blue;Piranha Bytes has reportedly been facing closuresince the turn of the year due to the cost-cutting efforts of Embracer Group, the owner of its parent company THQ Nordic. Back in early 2024, German game industry sources reported that THQ Nordic was shopping for a buyer in order to avoid closing theGothicdeveloper.
Piranha Bytes Reportedly Shut Down in June 2024
But those efforts did not pan out in the end, Polish outletCD Actionreports, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is hence said to have closed down at the end of June 2024, not long after aPiranha Bytes representative asked fans not to despair just yet, as per the same source. The studio is understood to have been running on fumes in the run-up to the shutdown decision, with Embracer reportedly earmarking just enough budget to keep it operational for six months after deciding to cut its losses in late 2023. THQ Nordic is said to have spent the majority of that time trying to find a buyer for the Essen-based developer, albeit to no avail.
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At some point during the first half of 2024, the studio itself reportedly had a plan to keep the lights on by securing an additional €3 million (~$3.25 million) in funding for a new Unreal Engine 5-powered dark fantasy RPG reminiscent of theGothicseries, which is still widely considered to have yielded thebest Piranha Bytes gamesto date. While that idea did not pan out, the specifics of what caused the plan to fall through are unclear.
CD Action’s sources predict that the company won’t be releasing any official statements confirming its closure, instead opting to go out without any fanfare. Many of Piranha Bytes' 30-plus employees are already said to have departed in late 2023. That group includes former creative director Bjorn Pankratz and his wife, game designer Jennifer Pankratz. The news of Piranha Bytes' closure coincides with the Pankratzes announcing the establishment of a new indie developer called Pithead Studio.
The closure of Piranha Bytes should not impact thedevelopment of the long-awaitedGothicremake. That project has been in the works at THQ Nordic’s Spanish subsidiary Alkimia Interactive since early 2020, but has yet to reveal any gameplay footage. Its first gameplay trailer might finally materialize on August 2, when the next THQ Nordic Digital Showcase will take place, not least because theGothicremake has already been confirmed to appear at the event.
