Bigpoint takes over the entire development team of 49Games GmbH

Paul Sinclair • Sep 12, 2011 • Comments ()

• Renowned studio for sports-entertainment software sells its entire development team to Bigpoint
• 43 workers switch to a new employer and will be developing online games instead of console titles
• Fourth Bigpoint takeover in the past 18 months

Hamburg September 12, 2011 - Bigpoint, an international leader in online games, is immediately taking over the entire production team of the internationally successful development studio 49Games. More than 40 full-time employees will now become part of Bigpoint's international team and will be developing online games instead of console titles. The current projects under development in 49Games will be completed by the production team. Aside from the production team, all rights to their multiplatform technology, assets, licenses etc. remain the property of 49Games GmbH.

Bigpoint will concentrate solely on the development of online and mobile games in the future. The veteran expertise of the recently taken-over developers will be put to use on upcoming Unity 3D projects.

"The team at 49Games is one of the best development teams in the console sports-games industry. We're very excited to add them to the Bigpoint team for our online games," explains Heiko Hubertz, CEO and founder of Bigpoint. "Together with our development team, we're going to continue our mission to deliver our users top-quality gaming fun."

"I'm very pleased with Bigpoint's acquisition of our development team and I'm confident that the team will deliver fantastic 3D MMOs for the quickly growing international online company," claims Jan-Hendrik Ohl, CEO of 49Games GmbH.

After the takeover and merger of Radon Labs and Elofd in Berlin last year and the purchase of Planet Moon Studios at the start of 2011, this is the fourth takeover for the world's largest browser-based online game provider Bigpoint.

"We plan on expanding," states so Heiko Hubertz, "and so we're still on the lookout for other excellent studios like 49 Games. In the future, we're definitely going to make more international acquisitions."

The 49Games GmbH - one of the leading development studios in Europe
The Hamburg-based game development studio, 49Games, is the leading independent development studio of console-sports games in Europe. The company spun off from the VCC entertainment company in 2004 and has developed 18 multi-platform sports titles since. These titles were published for the XBox 360, Wii, PS3, PS2 and PC. The studio's team is composed of 45 full-time developers who have developed the beloved games: Winter Stars, Winter Sports 2011 - Go for Gold, Summer Challenge 2010, RTL Wintersports 2010 and many other top titles.

Further online links:
- http://www.bigpoint.net
- http://www.bigpoint.com
- http://www.49games.de

About Bigpoint
Bigpoint (http://www.bigpoint.com) is an online-game developer, publisher and content provider for large media concerns. Bigpoint-developed games are played by over 200 million people in more than 25 languages, are free-to-play anytime, anywhere, and require no download or installation. The company's portfolio includes games in a quality which until now was associated exclusively with CD or console games. Over 700 employees from some 35 countries work at the world's largest supplier of browser-based games; at the company headquarters in Hamburg, Germany or at one of the other locations in Berlin, San Francisco, São Paulo and Malta. Bigpoint's many distinctions in the industry include the 2010 Media Momentum Award, the European Games Award, the Mashable Award for "Best Online Game" and the coveted Lara Award. The German Developer's Prize 2010 went to Bigpoint in three separate categories. For more information or press material, please visit the press area at the www.bigpoint.net.

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• Renowned studio for sports-entertainment software sells its entire development team to Bigpoint\n• 43 workers switch to a new employer and will be developing online games instead of console titles\n• Fourth Bigpoint takeover in the past 18 months\n\nHamburg September 12, 2011 - Bigpoint, an international leader in online games, is immediately taking over the entire production team of the internationally successful development studio 49Games. More than 40 full-time employees will now become part of Bigpoint's international team and will be developing online games instead of console titles. The current projects under development in 49Games will be completed by the production team. Aside from the production team, all rights to their multiplatform technology, assets, licenses etc. remain the property of 49Games GmbH.\n\nBigpoint will concentrate solely on the development of online and mobile games in the future. The veteran expertise of the recently taken-over developers will be put to use on upcoming Unity 3D projects.\n\n\"The team at 49Games is one of the best development teams in the console sports-games industry. We're very excited to add them to the Bigpoint team for our online games,\" explains Heiko Hubertz, CEO and founder of Bigpoint. \"Together with our development team, we're going to continue our mission to deliver our users top-quality gaming fun.\"\n\n\"I'm very pleased with Bigpoint's acquisition of our development team and I'm confident that the team will deliver fantastic 3D MMOs for the quickly growing international online company,\" claims Jan-Hendrik Ohl, CEO of 49Games GmbH.\n\nAfter the takeover and merger of Radon Labs and Elofd in Berlin last year and the purchase of Planet Moon Studios at the start of 2011, this is the fourth takeover for the world's largest browser-based online game provider Bigpoint.\n\n\"We plan on expanding,\" states so Heiko Hubertz, \"and so we're still on the lookout for other excellent studios like 49 Games. In the future, we're definitely going to make more international acquisitions.\"\n\nThe 49Games GmbH - one of the leading development studios in Europe\nThe Hamburg-based game development studio, 49Games, is the leading independent development studio of console-sports games in Europe. The company spun off from the VCC entertainment company in 2004 and has developed 18 multi-platform sports titles since. These titles were published for the XBox 360, Wii, PS3, PS2 and PC. The studio's team is composed of 45 full-time developers who have developed the beloved games: Winter Stars, Winter Sports 2011 - Go for Gold, Summer Challenge 2010, RTL Wintersports 2010 and many other top titles.\n\nFurther online links:\n- http://www.bigpoint.net\n- http://www.bigpoint.com\n- http://www.49games.de\n\nAbout Bigpoint\nBigpoint (http://www.bigpoint.com) is an online-game developer, publisher and content provider for large media concerns. Bigpoint-developed games are played by over 200 million people in more than 25 languages, are free-to-play anytime, anywhere, and require no download or installation. The company's portfolio includes games in a quality which until now was associated exclusively with CD or console games. Over 700 employees from some 35 countries work at the world's largest supplier of browser-based games; at the company headquarters in Hamburg, Germany or at one of the other locations in Berlin, San Francisco, São Paulo and Malta. Bigpoint's many distinctions in the industry include the 2010 Media Momentum Award, the European Games Award, the Mashable Award for \"Best Online Game\" and the coveted Lara Award. The German Developer's Prize 2010 went to Bigpoint in three separate categories. For more information or press material, please visit the press area at the www.bigpoint.net. \n