Björn and Jennifer Pankratz on Their End at Piranha Bytes and Future Plans
– 3 min read
Further insights: Björn and Jennifer Pankratz have spoken publicly about their end at Piranha Bytes, the silence that followed, why they are continuing alone with their Pithead Studio and what the future holds for the well-known brands. Björn Pankratz: "We didn't go voluntarily, did we?"
Björn and Jennifer Pankratz talk about the end of Piranha Bytes on their YouTube channel (Pithead Studio TV). They explain that the industry is currently in a bad state worldwide, and that even large studios and publicly traded publishers have been struggling since mid-2023. "A lot of development studios have closed, an incredible number of people have been laid off. And we're going to be struggling with that for a while, and by 'we' I mean the whole industry," says Jennifer Pankratz, as the text "Farewell Piranha Bytes" appears in the video. Neither Embracer, nor THQ Nordic, nor they themselves have been spared from the crisis. She continues: "Exactly, in the end it also hit Piranha Bytes and yes. Nobody wanted it to happen, but it did, and that's why we're sitting here now." Björn Pankratz added meaningfully: "We didn't go voluntarily, did we?"
After rumours of Piranha Bytes' closure in January 2024 and the studio's defiant announcement that it would continue, things have gone quiet. Since then, there has been no comment from Embracer, THQ Nordic or Piranha Bytes regarding the studio's closure. Björn and Jennifer Pankratz have stated that they were still contractually bound to Piranha Bytes until the end of June 2024. After that it was possible to set up a new studio. "We were contractually bound to Piranha Bytes until the end of June, so we're basically setting up now. So, as the saying goes, "the world belongs to the brave". All in. You have to imagine that when we, i.e. Piranha Bytes, were sold to the Embracer Group, or rather THQ Nordic as the parent company, in 2019, we thought, and I'm sure our colleagues at THQ thought the same: "Yay, we're going to make games until we're old and wrinkly and then retire". But the "economic situation" and the fact that "everyone was suddenly in dire financial straits" thwarted that dream.
Even so, it was out of the question for them to switch to a different industry. They want to keep making games. In July 2024, they founded their new studio (Pithead). Jennifer Pankratz: "And we decided - that is, Björn and I decided - that we would just keep going. Because that's what we do best, because that's what we believe in, because that's what we want. And so we basically reinvested the money we got from the sale into our new company and dared to make a new start."
They also clarified the brand situation. The Piranha Bytes brand is owned by THQ Nordic and Embracer. The same goes for Gothic, Risen and Elex. With the exception of the remake of Gothic, which is being developed by Alkimia Interactive (Spain), Björn and Jennifer Pankratz are unaware of the future plans of THQ Nordic or the Embracer Group regarding these brands. As a result, they will create a new brand with Pithead Studio. Their new games will be "much more compact", "but also a bit more immersive", says Jennifer Pankratz.
Björn Pankratz has been Creative Director, Project Manager and Game Designer at Piranha Bytes since 1999. He has been heavily involved in the Gothic trilogy, the Risen trilogy and most recently Elex and Elex 2. He has often represented the studio externally. Jennifer Pankratz has been working as a game designer at Piranha Bytes since October 2008, starting with Risen.
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