Secret Item Games: "You Must be Able to Take a Punch"
From Indie to AAA: On a regular basis, we have a look at a studio from the German-speaking development scene. This time: Secret Item Games from Dortmund. Once a development and porting team of six people, founder Oswald Weber is now going it alone again – working hard to survive the crisis of the industry.
Founder of Secret Item Games and current one man studio Oswald Weber. Secret Item Games
Not all studio stories are feel good fairy tales, that much is certain. A lot of the studios and even people we portrait in this series on GamesMarkt have had their share of trouble, economic uncertainty or even PR scandals. These belong to the industry as much as the success stories. And sometimes, there is hope even after a perceived decline.
Not all studio stories are feel good fairy tales, that much is certain. A lot of the studios and even people we portrait in this series on GamesMarkt have had their share of trouble, economic uncertainty or even PR scandals. These belong to the industry as much as the success stories. And sometimes, there is hope even after a perceived decline.
Such is the story of Secret Item Games. A stable of the North Rhine Westphalian game studio landscape, the Dortmund studio started out as a one man team and then grew to become a porting stable for consoles. Said one man is Oswald Weber, founder of Secret Item Games. “I founded the company alone about 10 years ago as a solo indie developer. I started working on my own game at that time and got into console porting as work for hire to life off. That worked when for about nine years and over time I grew the company to six people.” Weber’s studio has split working on their own games and porting the titles from other companies to all conceivable consoles. “We have created over 30 console ports as work as a work for hire team, and we released our own game Paperman: Adventure Delivered in 2023.” Among the ports are German stables like Notruf 112 and Truck & Logistics Simulator for Aerosoft as well as well as global indie highlight such as Nowhere Prophet for No More Robots.
A rousing success story then, at least on paper, with a solid spread between own work and contracting to secure funding. But that all got hit when gouvernment funding in Germany dried up and the global economic situation in the games industry declined after the boom of the first years. “There were no long any possibility in keeping the existing team. Clients moved away to cheaper service providers outside the country, with which we just cannot compete in price due to cost of living in Germany and inflation. Additionally, the German government games funding dried up. So now I am going back to square one and I am alone in the company for now.” Weber, after keeping the team around as long as possible without work to do, made the hard decision to go back to his starting days. Secret Item Games is still around, but now the name is once again synonymous with Weber himself. And he is not waiting for the demise quietly, but instead fighting back: With three games still in production, he had to put two of them on hold for the time being, but is actively finishing the third one. “Currently I am working on a small Bowling game and I am looking for an investor and publisher for financing the continued development of our games Destruction Simulator and Eldritch Tactics: Lichtmond. I hope to find a partner for one or both of those titles to continue the development of those games and rehire the people we lost.” To achieve those, Weber could be found on stages and pitch event all around Europe, like as part of the German Delegation to Poland at Game Industry Conference 2024 (read the GamesMarkt+ article).
When asked for tips on how studios can survive hard times such as these, especially those studios without the previous success Secret Item Games had, Weber shows himself pessimistic. “I am still wondering that as well. In fact, it feels like we have been fighting to survive as a company for every year. You must be able to take a punch and stand back up again. For about every deal that works out there are hundreds that do not. So you must be able to fail, again and again and again. Until something works out.” Something that not all studios, especially small and young ones, will be able to do – or were able to do, as we have seen with the various teams closing shop in the last months. Secret Item Games is still around, and as long as there is at least one person that can sustain development, as Weber is, there is hope for a time after the crisis. “The future seems grimm but then again, that has been the case every year for the last 10 years. And I am a giant pessimist. So, I prepare for the worst case and hope for the best,” Weber says. “Funding also doesn’t appear to be an option any time soon with the current gouvernment situation. Signing with a publisher or investor soon would solve this problem, for us at least. But because of the current economic situation and political situation, I think the crisis years for the game industry are far from over.”
Such is the story of Secret Item Games. A stable of the North Rhine Westphalian game studio landscape, the Dortmund studio started out as a one man team and then grew to become a porting stable for consoles. Said one man is Oswald Weber, founder of Secret Item Games. “I founded the company alone about 10 years ago as a solo indie developer. I started working on my own game at that time and got into console porting as work for hire to life off. That worked when for about nine years and over time I grew the company to six people.” Weber’s studio has split working on their own games and porting the titles from other companies to all conceivable consoles. “We have created over 30 console ports as work as a work for hire team, and we released our own game Paperman: Adventure Delivered in 2023.” Among the ports are German stables like Notruf 112 and Truck & Logistics Simulator for Aerosoft as well as well as global indie highlight such as Nowhere Prophet for No More Robots.
A rousing success story then, at least on paper, with a solid spread between own work and contracting to secure funding. But that all got hit when gouvernment funding in Germany dried up and the global economic situation in the games industry declined after the boom of the first years. “There were no long any possibility in keeping the existing team. Clients moved away to cheaper service providers outside the country, with which we just cannot compete in price due to cost of living in Germany and inflation. Additionally, the German government games funding dried up. So now I am going back to square one and I am alone in the company for now.” Weber, after keeping the team around as long as possible without work to do, made the hard decision to go back to his starting days. Secret Item Games is still around, but now the name is once again synonymous with Weber himself. And he is not waiting for the demise quietly, but instead fighting back: With three games still in production, he had to put two of them on hold for the time being, but is actively finishing the third one. “Currently I am working on a small Bowling game and I am looking for an investor and publisher for financing the continued development of our games Destruction Simulator and Eldritch Tactics: Lichtmond. I hope to find a partner for one or both of those titles to continue the development of those games and rehire the people we lost.” To achieve those, Weber could be found on stages and pitch event all around Europe, like as part of the German Delegation to Poland at Game Industry Conference 2024 (read the GamesMarkt+ article).
When asked for tips on how studios can survive hard times such as these, especially those studios without the previous success Secret Item Games had, Weber shows himself pessimistic. “I am still wondering that as well. In fact, it feels like we have been fighting to survive as a company for every year. You must be able to take a punch and stand back up again. For about every deal that works out there are hundreds that do not. So you must be able to fail, again and again and again. Until something works out.” Something that not all studios, especially small and young ones, will be able to do – or were able to do, as we have seen with the various teams closing shop in the last months. Secret Item Games is still around, and as long as there is at least one person that can sustain development, as Weber is, there is hope for a time after the crisis. “The future seems grimm but then again, that has been the case every year for the last 10 years. And I am a giant pessimist. So, I prepare for the worst case and hope for the best,” Weber says. “Funding also doesn’t appear to be an option any time soon with the current gouvernment situation. Signing with a publisher or investor soon would solve this problem, for us at least. But because of the current economic situation and political situation, I think the crisis years for the game industry are far from over.”
