Rcp Launches External Development Division Rcp Blend

Production house rcp is responding to the fundamental changes currently taking place in game development with a new business approach. rcp is positioning itself and the studios belonging to the company family as external developers, with Frederik Hammes heading the new division.

Rcp, which stands for remote control productions, is an institution in German game development. The company was founded in 2005 by Hendrik Lesser and is undoubtedly one of the oldest and most established game development companies in Germany. However, rcp is not actually a developer itself. rcp describes itself as a production house. Lesser and his core team at rcp take care of the business side and strategic development so that the creative minds, the game developers, can concentrate fully on what they do best and love doing most: developing games.  But even though rcp is not a traditional developer, Lesser and rcp have built up an international network of diverse and highly talented studios through acquisitions, co-foundings, partnerships and investments.

The rcp family, as the Munich-based company likes to call its network, includes studios such as Chimera Entertainment, stillalive, Rockodile, Redox Interactive and FRAG (For Rock and Games). They are responsible for games such as Songs of Silence, Bus Bound, Garden Life, Shadow and Bones Destinies and Angry Birds Evolution. In addition, the studios have realized dozens of ports for other studios and publishers and provided support for productions.

It is precisely this experience that Frederik Hammes will now bring to bear in new business ventures. Frederik joined rcp in February 2025. He came from Travian Games, where he held a leading position as COO and Managing Director for many years. At rcp, he holds the position of Studio Partner. But now, at gamescom, rcp is introducing a new sub-brand – rcp blend – that he will be responsible for developing.

"The number one decision criterion for external development is quality, not price"
- Frederik Hammes

"rcp blend is our approach to a fundamental shift in the gaming ecosystem. On the initial level, it is a brand that offers our wide array of expertise and development power to help realize projects around the globe", Frederik Hammes explains. "rcp is a family with 15 associated development studios. Among those are experts for many of the most complex challenges companies out there are facing. And they are experts because they have successfully mastered them many times before."

At least on the surface, the offer that rcp is making to other studios with its new sub-brand is not new. For many years, rcp has been supporting other teams in the realization of projects, thereby utilizing its development resources at times when capacity is available. However, as Frederik said, rcp believes that there is currently a permanent fundamental change in the development of games.

That is why rcp blend is not just about work for hire, even if offering services as part of a game development project is exactly what it is. "You can say the spark that set it off now was the origin story of 'Expedition 33'. Which was not made by 33 people, but by a small studio that developed, shared and guarded their creative vision with a team of 300 externals, that would go on to help them realize this vision," Frederik says.

In fact, many in the industry are convinced that the studios of the future will consist of a small core team that will carry out the majority of development work with external partners. Or as it Frederik describes in an interview mit GamesMarkt: "The monolithic structures of the past that give way to massive hiring and firing sprees have to be and are being replaced by modular systems that cater better to everyone involved. The stigma of 'Outsourcing is like the Temu of the digital world' was finally laid to rest by Sandfall Interactive for all to see. Already 86% of all award-winning games from 2024 have used external development.".

However, implementation is not just about outsourcing simple workloads. Instead, external forces must be closely integrated into the product vision. This requires not only manpower, but also experience. rcp blend therefore wants to ensure that the right experts or teams are integrated into a project right from the start. Since rcp blend primarily relies on its own network, which it has built up over the years, it knows the respective qualities of the individual studios.

"The number one decision criterion for external development is quality, not price. Which comes down to trust – am I sure this person is able to pull this off, do I know their strengths and weaknesses, do I know I have a team that is used to working together? We do," Frederik says. Looking at rcp and the way it works, one could almost say that rcp blend is its perfect counterpart. The idea of a core team that realizes a project vision with lean in-house structures and various external partners is basically nothing more than a production house. In other words: in addition to production and business support, rcp blend now also offers the corresponding development support as a service.

"rcp blend is our approach to a fundamental shift in the gaming ecosystem"
- Frederik Hammes

At least in theory, the two-pillar approach of production support and development support carries the risk of blocking resources for your own projects by acting as an external partner for the business. But Frederik has a solution for that too. "We are segmenting our studios into two categories, which are different but equally important to our ecosystem: contributors and creators. Contributor studios are experts at efficiently executing visions. As the saying goes, ideas are cheap, the magic lies in the execution. We want to help others realize the game they want to make, not the game their amount of resources allows them to make. People want to build games, not big companies and then games," he says. "Our creator studios have the grit to face every scrutiny imaginable, which automatically happens when you put yourself out there. They are not in it for the security that comes with a steady project inflow, but are willing to put everything on the line to create their visions."

And if there are ever bottlenecks, a project requires resources in a different time zone, or other reasons arise, then it is also possible to look outside the family. After all, the rcp network includes not only family members but also lots of friends and partners.

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