Not even hours after news broke that Gothic developer Piranha Bytes has shut down, news of a new studio formed by former senior developers has emerged. Jennifer and Bjorn Pankratz have announced the launching of Pithead Studio.
The announcement came via a post on social media and a nearly six-minute video on YouTube. The video, with English subtitles, explains the decision from both Jennifer and Bjorn to start Pithead Studio as well as their plans for the company.
“In the future, we will focus on developing Indie Games,” Jennifer Pankratz said.
“Yes, we wanted to keep doing what we love. This seemed like the best way to do it,” Bjorn Pankratz added.
As far as the types of games the pair will be developing, that wasn’t revealed in the video. However, the pair said that every Monday they will be releasing a new video answering questions from the community about Pithead Studio’s future.
“We love to make video games that we personally enjoy playing, and this is exactly what we will do in the future,” Jennifer Pankratz said. “We hope you are looking forward to this as well.”
For more Insider Gaming, read about the latest update on the development of EVE Vanguard, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive shows, news, interviews, reviews, and more.
This is amazing news! I’ve been a fan of their games for years and was saddened by the news they were being shut down. I wonder if they’ll ever get a chance to own their Gothic/Risen/Elex properties. I’m very bummed we probably won’t ever get an Elex III to complete the trilogy but at least they’re going to be back at it making games I love!
It’s incredible how much damage is being done to our industry by the rampant consolidation. They would have been perfectly fine had they stayed indie and not signed on with THQ…