Category Archives: News

Pioneers of Pagonia Announced

Today, award-winning German indie studio Envision Entertainment is announcing Pioneers of Pagonia, a vibrant city builder coming to PC. Developed under the creative direction of Volker Wertich, the original creator of the famous The Settlers series — which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide — Pioneers of Pagonia will launch into Early Access for PC by the End of 2023, and can now be wishlisted on Steam.

Pioneers of Pagonia is the ultimate simulation title, a return to classic city building gameplay where players will discover and explore the fabled islands of Pagonia and forge alliances with its many inhabitants. With over 40 different building types and over 70 different goods and dispersed production chains available in Early Access, players can get creative in building their own unique economy. Watch it come to life through stunning animations for all goods transports, production processes, and discoveries of the population. Thanks to the procedurally generated maps, countless variations are possible for a unique game experience every time.

Exploration of the islands also plays a significant role in Pioneers of Pagonia; you can discover lost treasures, underground resources, fertile lands, and hidden places. Although you’ll have to be careful, as not all inhabitants of these beautiful islands are peaceful. A co-op mode is also being planned, so players can explore and develop the islands of Pagonia together.

“With Pioneers of Pagonia, we’re returning to the origins of city building simulation, with thousands of inhabitants scurrying around and a focus on the in-depth simulation of the game world and economy that the community loves so much,” said Volker Wertich, Creative Director at Envision Entertainment.

The development of Pioneers of Pagonia was financially supported by the German games fund grant by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

To stay up to date on Pioneers of Pagonia, be sure to follow on Facebook, join Discord or visit the official website.

Envision Entertainment und Scandinavian Business Hub treten dem GAME bei

Berlin, 24. Februar 2017: Mit Envision Entertainment und dem Scandinavian Business Hub aus Berlin treten dem GAME Bundesverband e.V. zwei weitere Neumitglieder bei.

Envision Entertainment mit Sitz in Ingelheim bei Frankfurt am Main tritt als weiterer starker und unabhängiger Entwickler dem GAME Bundesverband der deutschen Games Branche e.V. bei. Gegründet als geistiger Nachfolger von Phenomic Game Development (später EA Phenomic Studios) beheimatet das Studio viele ehemalige Phenomic Mitarbeiter und langjährige Experten der Branche. Neben vielfach ausgezeichneten Titeln wie z.B. C&C: Tiberium Alliances oder SpellForce, konzentriert sich Envision Entertainment aktuell auf vor allem auf Mobile Games. Zuletzt konnten sie mit Path of War den Titel „Bestes Mobile Game 2016“ gewinnen.

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Path of War expands to PC, Steam and Amazon

We are proud to announce that our award-winning mobile game Path of War – is now also fully featured on PC and Amazon devices. Our team was recently busy bringing the MMO strategy experience to the Windows Store, followed by the Amazon Marketplace and now, finally on Steam. With not just that, we are laying a foundation for a cross-platform game and connecting PC and mobile gamers in a vast MMORPG experience.

You can find the direct links on the game website here: http://www.pathofwargame.com

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Path of War Wins Best Mobile Game

In the night of April 7, the German Video Game Industry was celebrating the eight Video Game Awards ceremony. The best games of the year were named and awarded in fourteen categories, with a total price sum of 470.000€ across all winners.

Our very first mobile game Path of War has hereby won the award for “Best Mobile Game” made in Germany.

Jury: “Path of War leaves known paths and adds bold innovations to the mobile genre. Path of War comes technically advanced with a unique engine created by the Envision team  and innovative free-to-play mechanics.

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Image source: Gisela Schober/Getty Images

Our Senior Producer Martin Löhlein, and COO Boris Kunkel were present at the awards to receive the precious award, presented by German TV Star Nova Meierhenrich.

We are incredibly proud of winning this award with our first mobile game, and hope to continue on this already success story even more in the future.

Nexon Announces Publishing Agreement with Envision Entertainment

We have entered into a publishing agreement with Nexon; they will publish our upcoming mobile strategy game. Here’s their official press release:

TOKYO – August 7, 2014 – NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO), a worldwide leader in free-to-play online games, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Envision Entertainment GmbH (“Envision”), an independent game development studio based in Frankfurt, Germany, for worldwide publishing rights to its upcoming mobile title.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nexon will serve as the exclusive worldwide publisher for Envision’s inaugural mobile strategy title expected in 2015.  Additional terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

“The Envision team has a successful track record of developing high-quality strategy games that are easy to play yet provide a very compelling experience that keeps users coming back,” said Owen Mahoney, president and chief executive officer of Nexon.  “We look forward to working together on the first mobile title from this talented independent studio.”

Envision was founded in 2013 by industry veterans Dirk Ringe and Volker Wertich, with talent coming from Phenomic Game Development (later EA Phenomic).  The team has previously created critically-acclaimed titles such as SpellForce, BattleForge, Lord of Ultima, and Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances.

“As a studio of veterans, we are not in the game to test the water,” said Dirk Ringe, co-founder and CEO of Envision. “We want to make a splash with our next project, and Nexon is the perfect match for that.  They have excellent personnel, a deep understanding of free-to-play, and broad international reach.”

About NEXON Co., Ltd.   http://company.nexon.co.jp/

NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO) is a worldwide leader in free-to-play online games. Founded in Korea in 1994, Nexon developed one of the world’s first graphics-based massively multiplayer online games. Nexon also pioneered the concept of microtransactions and the free-to-play business model, setting a new standard in which play is free, and users have the option to purchase in-game items to enhance their experience. Nexon currently services nearly 60 online games in more than 100 countries and since its founding, Nexon has generated more than 1.4 billion player registrations. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and its shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

About Envision Entertainment GmbH http://www.envision-entertainment.de

Envision Entertainment is world class games development studio near Frankfurt, Germany, led by veterans with proven expertise in Free-to-Play online games. Envision Entertainment may be seen as the rebirth of Phenomic Game Development (later: EA Phenomic) since the 25-strong workforce consists mainly of ex-Phenomic employees. The team members are responsible for critically acclaimed games like SpellForce, BattleForge, Lord of Ultima and C&C: Tiberium Alliances.

Envision develops on mobile, browser, PC and console platforms. The lead platform is the tablet, as tablets offer a unique balance between an intuitive and lean control scheme, touch input and screen real estate to lend themselves perfectly to mid-core strategy games. In Envision games the fun arises from deep yet easily graspable rules that enable a series of interesting choices. Strong meta gameplay enhances the short-term fun and offers a scope for the player, an enticing perspective of development and growth. Envision games are built to last for years; they are places that gamers return to frequently to find new challenges and meet like-minded people.

Envision Entertainment is represented by Ophir Lupu of United Talent Agency.

Volker Wertich honoured at German Game Developer’s Awards

At the German Game Developer’s Awards (Deutscher Entwicklerpreis) a “Special Award of the Jury“ was given to Volker Wertich, to honor his contribution to the development of games in Germany.

Volker Wertich is a self-taught game designer and programmer. He started his career at the age of 14 in 1983, writing small games for Disk-Magazines. And went on to start two strategy game series Germany is famous for: The Settlers and SpellForce. During his 30 years in the industry he has designed and developed more than 20 games and expansions from start to finish.

A recurring theme in his work is innovation, especially the innovation of strategy games. Volker singlehandedly invented a new genre with ‘The Settlers’. That was followed by the international smash hit SpellForce, the first to create a meaningful blend of RTS and RPG and he developed the first free-to-play RTS with BattleForge.

’Regardless of which criteria you apply, be it sold games, revenue or awards’, Teut Weidemann said in the laudation, ’Volker Wertich is one of the most successful game designers in Germany, possibly the most successful.’

Volker Wertich accepted the Award with the words: ’I am very honored. I’m glad that I could do my part to aid the rise of german game development during the last ten years.’

This is no ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, the ‘Special Award’ is given only to persons or organizations making a difference in active business. It’s the same with Volker Wertich: He recently founded a new development studio named Envision Entertainment with Dirk Ringe, Boris Kunkel and other veterans of EA Phenomic. The studio is focused on persistent online strategy games on PC and mobile plattforms.

New German game development studio up and running

A new studio has risen from the ashes of EA Phenomic, formerly Phenomic Game Development. Envision Entertainment was formed in Ingelheim, Germany by veteran developers. From Phenomic Game Development to EA Phenomic to the brand new Envision Entertainment there’s an unbroken line of dedicated key personnel: Dirk Ringe, Boris Kunkel and Volker Wertich, who were the original founders of Phenomic in 1997 and later the senior management of EA Phenomic, are still on board and eager to lead their newest endeavor to success. Dirk Ringe and Boris Kunkel accepted the responsibilities of CEO and COO, respectively, while game design mastermind Volker Wertich (best known for the iconic ‘The Settlers’ series) took the mantle of Creative Director.

The new studio has acquired Ubisoft as their first business partner, working together on a number of projects. Other Envision clients will be announced soon.

Envision has a 25+ strong team as well as very good network of freelance personnel and is able to handle small and mid-sized projects, from mobile to browser to client.

»We formed this new company to do what we do best«, says Dirk Ringe, CEO, »to build deep online strategy games. We envision games that last for years, that are places that gamers return to frequently to find new challenges and meet like-minded people. Social strategy, so to speak.«