Fishlabs

Fishlabs

Fishlabs

German video game developer

Fishlabs GmbH (formerly Fishlabs Entertainment GmbH and Deep Silver Fishlabs) is a German video game developer based in Hamburg. Founded in 2004 by Michael Schade and Christian Lohr, the studio is best known for its Galaxy on Fire series.[1] Following a brief bankruptcy proceeding, Fishlabs was acquired by Koch Media and reorganized as part of their game publishing label Deep Silver.

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History

Fishlabs was founded in 2004 by Michael Schade and Christian Lohr, incorporated under the name Fishlabs Entertainment GmbH.[2] That same year, the company received a round of financing, which allowed them to pay for development expenses for several years while generating revenue from their releases.[3] It developed advergames like Barclaycard's Waterslide Extreme.[4] In May 2010, Fishlabs planned a series B round and announced its plans to move into the massively multiplayer online games market.[5]

By mid-2013, Fishlabs had run out of money; in October, 25 jobs were cut before the company went into self-administration.[3] On 2 December, media company Koch Media announced that it had acquired Fishlabs, which would henceforth operate as the dedicated mobile studio for its game publishing label, Deep Silver.[2] As the agreement was an asset deal, all of Fishlabs' assets, including 52 employees, were transferred to Koch Media and incorporated in a new division, called Deep Silver Fishlabs.[3] The company's former legal entity, Fishlabs Entertainment GmbH, was to be dissolved, and both founders left the company.[2] Schade and Lohr left the company and founded Everspace developer Rockfish Games.[6] As result of the change in ownership, and the associated financial stability, Fishlabs also moved into video game publishing.[3]

Fishlabs employed 95 people in January 2023.[7] In November, Embracer Group, the parent company of Koch Media (now known as Plaion), underwent cost cutting restructuring. It was announced that layoffs would affect around 50 Fishlabs employees.[8]

List of video games

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References

  1. [1]
    Etherington, Darrell (11 February 2013). "Galaxy On Fire Space Sim MMO For iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Coming In Q3 2013". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  2. [2]
    Corriea, Alexa Ray (2 December 2013). "Galaxy on Fire developer Fishlabs purchased by Koch Media". Polygon. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  3. [3]
    Chapple, Craig (14 May 2014). "'It was the hardest time we've ever gone through': How Fishlabs came back from the brink". MCV. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  4. [4]
    Dredge, Stuart (27 July 2009). "Fishlabs reveals Waterslide Extreme iPhone stats". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  5. [5]
    vaughn597 (12 May 2010). "Next10: Fishlabs to move into mobile MMOGs, Series B round planned". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. [6]
    Handrahan, Matthew (31 January 2018). "Rockfish Games: Building success, piece by piece". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  7. [7]
    Fröhlich, Petra (16 January 2023). "Die größten Games-Studios in Deutschland 2023 (Update)" [The largest game studios in Germany in 2023 (update)]. GamesWirtschaft (in German). Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  8. [8]
    Phillips, Tom (28 November 2023). "Layoffs hit Galaxy on Fire, Chorus developer Fishlabs - sources". Eurogamer. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
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