"Goodbye Piranha Bytes": former lead developers confirmed the closure of the famous studio that created the Gothic, Risen and Elex franchises

Last week, the gamer community was actively discussing two infowars that concerned Piranha Bytes studio:

1. Clear evidence has emerged that the famous German studio is closed.
2. Former lead employees Jennifer and Björn Pankratz have founded a new studio, Pithead Studio, and plan to continue the Piranha Bytes business.

Today, the Pithead founders released a new video blog in which they actually confirmed the closure of Piranha Bytes.

Here's What We Know

The developers never once openly uttered the phrase that the studio is closed, limiting themselves to streamlined language, but even the title of the video - "Goodbye Piranha Bytes" - speaks volumes.

Bjorn and Jennifer Pankratz confirmed that Piranha Bytes actually exists only as a brand, which is owned by publisher THQ Nordic, which in turn is owned by Embracer Group. Due to a difficult financial situation and a massive wave of layoffs, the Swedish holding company was forced to stop funding the German studio as it was no longer a valuable asset and its games were selling poorly.

THQ Nordic will retain the rights to Gothic, Risen, and Elex, but Pankratz isn't sure if the company plans to develop them further (other than a Gothic 1 remake).

Strangely, neither party has yet to officially confirm Piranha Bytes' closure - it turns out it's a secret that everyone already knows.

Source: Pithead Studio