EMPIRE: FOUR KINGDOMS – ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD
Hamburg,
Empire: Four Kingdoms, the most successful gaming app from a German developer, allows players to experience a golden age around Black Friday. From November 25 onwards, the “Hands of Midas” event will allow players to collect points in small battles and trade them for golden rewards. And none other than clumsy King Midas himself is responsible for all the excitement!
Order out of chaos – the story
At the end of the year, the rulers of the four kingdoms wanted to impress the emperor with a mighty feast. Noblemen from every corner of the known world attended, even the legendary King Midas. The latter behaved rather awkwardly, though, thus turning the interior and guests alike into solid gold. The silver lining to this golden faux pas: Midas felt guilty and decided to host the grandest and most pompous tournament the four kingdoms had ever seen.
Earn your weight in gold – the rewards
Unbelievably precious, gold-coated rewards from the treasure chambers of the king himself await every lord who proves himself during the month of tournaments and adventures. The more points they earn during the Hands of Midas event, the more valuable the rewards they’ll receive, with possibilities such as decorations, troops, and equipment for their commanders. Befitting the spirit of Black Friday on November 25, in-game offers will be presented to the willing alongside Midas’ phenomenal tournament. All the more reason for all our lords to get their troops in line and lead them to victory!
Goodgame Studios establishes “Brain Trust”
Hamburg,
Due to the company’s rapid growth and transition into Germany’s leading game developer in recent years, Goodgame Studios’ founders, Kai and Christian Wawrzinek, have increasingly had to deal with organizational matters, resulting in less availability to directly influence the core business of game production. In the future, the founders will focus solely on the development of strategy games for browsers and mobile devices.
Together with Dominik Willers, former CIO, they will form the “Goodgame Brain Trust”. This think tank joins the studios in developing new, innovative game concepts and counsels the studios concerning implementation. Thus, Goodgame Studio’s founders return to their original role as creative advisors. Their know-how and passion for gaming enabled the brothers to celebrate success with gaming hits like Goodgame Empire, Goodgame Big Farm, and Empire: Four Kingdoms, the latter having remained the world’s most successful app from a German developer since 2013.
With this decision, Goodgame Studios follows a model which is well-established in the creative industry. For example, Pixar Animation Studios (Toy Story, Finding Nemo) established a small group of creative heads, who focus solely on developing new movies.
“My brother, Dominik Willers and I are very happy to again work with the products themselves in our new roles. We’ll use all our energy to add to the game development process, so we can follow up the success of our previous hits as fast as possible. We are convinced that we can push Goodgame Studios at the best possible rate in this solely product-focused role,” says Christian Wawrzinek, founder of Goodgame Studios.
A newly established management team will handle the daily operational tasks. All members of the new management board have known the company very well for a long time. Maximilian Schneider will be the new Chief Executive Officer. He has been a member of the management team and Chief Strategy Officer for Goodgame Studios since August 2014. Before joining Goodgame Studios, he was a banking and finance lawyer in a leading international law firm in Frankfurt am Main. A four-man team will be joining Maximilian Schneider on the management board: Fabian Ritter, founder, as CFO, Sebastian Frank as COO, Thomas Zimmermann as CMO and David Lee Ellis as CPO.
“We are convinced that Max Schneider is the right person to handle all operative tasks at Goodgame Studios in the future. During the current phase, it has been extremely important to us to give the responsibility to a manager who knows our company inside out and can begin tackling our current challenges without needing any induction,” says Kai Wawrzinek, founder of Goodgame Studios.
The changes take immediate effect and come promptly after the recently announced reorganization of the company in order to accelerate the speed at which the company can return to focusing on its core competencies.
Goodgame Studios focuses on core competencies
Hamburg,
Goodgame Studios, a leading developer and provider of free-to-play games will focus more on its very profitable core business, strategy games on mobile and browser based platforms. The restructuring effort will lead to discontinuing the production of casual and PC client games. Additionally all central functions which are not part of the gaming development departments will be reorganized. In a joint decision with the employee representatives, the plan entails to reduce the workforce by the end of September 2016.
Strategy games and performance marketing
The main objective of the restructuring is to reinstall a clear focus on the core competencies of Goodgame Studios, in particular through the development of strategy games for browsers and mobile devices. Moreover, the company will further leverage its strong expertise in performance marketing. With the new structure, Goodgame Studios is in a good position to swiftly achieve further successful results. Goodgame Studios is ready to launch new promising games at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017.
Since Goodgame Studios was founded in 2009, it became Germany’s largest computer games developer with regards to the number of employees and revenues. In the past years, the organization invested heavily in new genres and platforms. However, so far none of the new releases has been as successful as earlier top games.
Restructuring with highest priority on social considerations
In a joint effort with the employee representatives of the Goodgame Employee Committee, the company’s management has developed a comprehensive social compensation plan. The scope of measures includes a voluntary redundancy program which exceeds normal market levels, non-renewal of temporary contracts and, if necessary, compulsory redundancies for operational reasons in combination with high severance packages. All employees affected by a termination for operational reasons will also be offered to change to an employment transitional company, which will receive additional funds from Goodgame Studios. In addition, Goodgame Studios will create a fund to reimburse the relocation costs for expat employees. The number of employees to be dismissed for operational reasons will depend on the acceptance rate of the voluntary redundancy scheme. The downsizing will be by a lower three-digit number.
„The success of Goodgame Studios in the recent past was only possible with our outstanding employees who deserve our sincerest gratitude. All the more we deeply regret to be forced to implement these profound changes. They are unavoidable to secure the successful future of Goodgame Studios and sustained job security of the remaining employees. By focusing our strengths on our profitable core business, we will be even better positioned in the future. Now, more than ever, we are committed to our overall goal to develop games which will fascinate our users all over the world for years to come”, says Christian Wawrzinek, founder and COO of Goodgame Studios.
„We had intensive talks about the restructuring plans with the management team, in order to enforce and safeguard the interests of our co-workers. Our overarching goal for the social plan was to include an optimal balance between high levels of freedom in choosing individual solutions and to ensure good financial security for all affected. After constructive, but tough negotiations, the agreed package now balances these aspects and does justice to our diverse workforce’s needs. We hope this will help pave the way to new opportunities beyond Goodgame Studios for all affected colleagues”, says Alexander Brüne, spokesperson of the Goodgame Studios Employee Committee (GEC).
Dragon slayers wanted! Terrifying beasts unleashed in Legends of Honor
Hamburg,
Fiery challenges for alliances in Goodgame Studios’ strategy title
Dauntless heroes are needed more than ever before in Legends of Honor, where giant dragons now crawl over the world map. Lavish rewards await the bravest dragon slayers – but to succeed, players need to fight side by side with their alliance to kill these fire-breathing beasts.
The monster hunter, Gisela Stormvale, has set up camp near the player’s castle in order to announce the dragons’ arrival. The event runs until Wednesday and then from Saturday to Monday. These vicious creatures spawn at various locations on the world map and have different appearances and levels, comparable to the marauders. Players collect fear by battling dragons, which is then added to an additional event score that unlocks special rewards.
Dragons can only be attacked by using alliance battles – each encounter will weaken the dragon’s body parts. Joined forces are required to force the monster to its knees – and everyone will surely benefit from the precious loot.
Summery events at Goodgame Big Farm & Goodgame Empire
Hamburg,
Exciting tasks and valuable rewards for the players of Goodgame Studios’ successful titles
Goodgame Studios, Germany’s leading developer of gaming software, is welcoming the hot weather with a variety of events in its successful browser titles. For farm enthusiasts and noble castle lords alike fun will be guaranteed during these exciting events. While players of Goodgame Big Farm will be enjoying exciting activities during this summer’s weekends, fans of Goodgame Empire will be challenged in Kala’s contest – for sure there will be plenty of rewards!
Summer festival in Goodgame Big Farm
July 1 marks the first day of summer for Goodgame Big Farm! Players can look forward to a variety of weekend activities and bonuses that will change every week until October.
It pays to stock your barns for the new farm visitors – when players spot them on their farm, they can get really great prices for their products. And since riding under the sun feels so nice, players can occasionally benefit from a horse trainer who will reduce the horseshoe costs and training times of horses. For those who need a break from the hot temperatures, paying a visit to the ice cream truck isn’t only a delicious way to cool down but also great for boosting happiness to the farm – all players have to do is donate a bit of milk and fruit! And if all that isn’t enough, majestic fireworks above the main house let them collect even more dropped items on their farm.
A special edition of the Racing Farmer will keep the players informed on the current events every weekend. On the opening weekend, the farm will welcome the horse trainer and ice cream truck.
Kala’s contest in Goodgame Empire
Starting July 6, Goodgame Empire is all about collecting points, points, and more points! Castle lords can look forward to this exciting, month-long summer event with an Indian flair: Sultan Darsil himself will set up camp in front of the castle and herald in Kala’s contest. During this event, players can complete tasks to collect points. This gives them the chance to acquire valuable rewards such as equipment items, troops, tools, heroes, and decorative items, such as Kala’s pond.
Goodgame Big Farm introduces appearance sets for buildings
Hamburg,
Make your farm even more unique in Goodgame Studios’ hit browser game
Goodgame Studios, Germany’s leading developer of gaming software, released a major update for its successful farm simulation game, Goodgame Big Farm. With the introduction of appearances, the browser game’s more than 40 million registered players now have, for the first time ever, the possibility to change the looks of existing buildings! This will give farms a fresh and much more individual visual style as players will be able to choose from various appearance sets.
Appearances are collected and stored in the inventory. They can either be bought or gained during events. Each building needs to be assigned its own appearance to complete the fresh look. The first available set is “Back to the Roots”, which gives the buildings a very natural and rustic style. More unique appearance sets will follow soon – and they will give farmers even more freedom to build up their dream farms.
