Starting off our Monday with more devastating news in the gaming industry as according to an employee Piranha Bytes, the studio behind franchises Elex, Risen and Gothic have closed their doors.
According to the employee Piranha Bytes closed its door at the end of June after failing to find funding. It was reported back in January that Embracer Group, owners of the studio, were trying to sell it off but we’re unsuccessful in their attempts. Embracer funded the studio up until June to give them a chance at finding funding.
Piranha Bytes was a bit of a legacy team in Germany having been in business for over 20 years. While their games were never critical successes nor were they massive sellers they had carved out a space in the RPG landscape with their Gothic, Risen and Elex franchises. Elex 2 was their last release back in 2022.
Out Of The Ashes Rises A New Studio
The only silver lining of this story is today it was announced via X that Björn and Jenny Pankratz were starting their own independent company Pithead Studios. The pair had been previously working at Piranha Bytes with Björn having been with the studio since 1999 and Jenny since 2008. The couple left the studio in November of last year.
Pitfall Studios is setting out to create “dense and dark action adventure games with deep stories and horror and RPG elements.” With any luck the couple can give most of the Piranha Bytes team a job and recreate the magic they’ve had in the past.
