JoWooD

Last updated

JoWooD Entertainment AG
Formerly
  • JoWooD Productions Software GmbH (1995–2000)
  • JoWooD Productions Software AG (2000–2009)
Company type Public
Industry Video games
Founded1995;29 years ago (1995)
Founders
  • Andreas Tobler
  • Hans Schilcher
DefunctJune 2011 (2011-06)
Fate Bankruptcy
Headquarters,
Austria
Products
Subsidiaries DreamCatcher Interactive

JoWooD Entertainment AG (formerly JoWooD Productions Software AG, commonly referred to as JoWooD) was an Austrian video game publisher that was founded in 1995. JoWooD went into administration in 2011 and all assets were purchased by Nordic Games.

Contents

Its games include the futuristic racing car game Beam Breakers which was released in 2002, action role-playing games in the Gothic series, the SpellForce series, and the Industry Giant series of games. Other titles include Transport Giant, World War III: Black Gold , The Sting! , Hotel Giant , and other games of the Giants series.

History

JoWooD Productions Software AG was founded in 1995 in Ebensee by Dieter Bernauer, Johann Reitinger, Johann Schilcher, and Andreas Tobler with its headquarters later moved to Liezen, Austria. It owned five subsidiaries in the last years: DreamCatcher Interactive, JoWooD Distribution Services, JoWooD Deutschland, JoWooD Iberica and Quantic Lab. In May 2002, JoWooD acquired Ravensburger Interactive and its sister company Fishtank Interactive.

In August 2005, JoWooD attempted to end their development agreement with developer Perception Pty because of a lack of quality on their "Stargate SG-1" product. [1] JoWooD carried out this action believing they owned the licence for the game Stargate SG-1: The Alliance, which was disputed by Perception. [2]

On 4 November 2006, JoWooD announced the acquisition of DreamCatcher Games, in efforts to move to the North American game markets. [3]

In January 2007, JoWooD announced a UK distribution agreement with Pinnacle Software to allow the latter to distribute JoWooD's titles. [4]

In October 2009, JoWooD changed its name from JoWooD Productions Software AG to JoWooD Entertainment AG. [5] At the same time, JoWood also announced an agreement with Valve to make available future JoWooD titles on Steam. [5]

On 7 January 2011, JoWooD officially filed for bankruptcy and announced that the company would prepare for "a procedure of capital reorganization". [6] However, on 21 April 2011, JoWooD announced that, unable to negotiate with potential investors, they were officially facing bankruptcy proceedings and had withdrawn their application for a recapitalization plan. [7] In June 2011, JoWooD Entertainment, all their assets and its subsidiary, Quantic Lab, was acquired by Nordic Games. From this point on, JoWooD was no longer operating. All activities of the two companies were taken over by Nordic Games. [8] On 16 August 2011, Nordic Games announced that it had acquired JoWooD's products and brands and some of the companies labels, including The Adventure Company. [9] Following the acquisition, it was announced that JoWood and the Adventure Company would become publishing labels for Nordic Games, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordic Games Holding. [10]

Games published

Release dateTitlePlatform(s)Developer(s)
14 April 1998 Industry Giant Microsoft Windows JoWooD Productions
11 May 1999 Alien Nations [11] Neo Software
26 October 1999 [12] Panzer Elite Wings Simulations
2000 Keep the Balance Item Multimedia
1 December 2000 Thandor: The Invasion Innonics
28 February 2001 Traffic Giant JoWooD Productions
15 June 2001 The Nations JoWooD Vienna
1 July 2001 The Sting! Neo Software
9 October 2001 Zax: The Alien Hunter Reflexive Entertainment
25 October 2001 S.W.I.N.E. [13] StormRegion
20 November 2001 Rally Trophy Bugbear Entertainment
30 November 2001 AquaNox Massive Development
26 November 2001 Gorasul: The Legacy of the Dragon Silver Style
7 June 2002 [14] Hard Truck 2: King of the Road SoftLab-NSK
28 June 2002 Arx Fatalis Microsoft Windows Arkane Studios
23 December 2003 Xbox Wizarbox
26 August 2002 Cultures 2: The Gates of Asgard [15] Microsoft Windows Funatics Development GmbH
18 September 2002 Michael Schumacher Racing World Kart 2002 Microsoft Windows Radon Labs
PlayStation
30 September 2002 Industry Giant II Microsoft WindowsJoWooD Productions
10 October 2002 Beam Breakers Similis Software GmbH
18 October 2002 Archangel Metropolis Software
25 October 2002 Europa 1400: The Guild 4HEAD Studios
16 November 2002 The Nations Nations Gold Edition / The Nations 2JoWooD Productions
29 November 2002 Gothic II Piranha Bytes
10 December 2002 K-Hawk: Survival Instinct [16] Similis Software GmbH
13 April 2003 Cold Zero: The Last Stand JoWooD Productions
20 June 2003 [17] Neighbours from Hell JoWooD Vienna
4 March 2005 GameCube, Xbox
22 August 2003 Gothic II: Night of the Raven - Expansion Pack Microsoft WindowsPiranha Bytes
22 August 2003 AquaNox 2: Revelation Massive Development
30 August 2003 Chaser Cauldron
22 October 2003 Cold Zero: No Mercy [18] JoWooD Productions
29 October 2003 [19] Railroad Pioneer [20] Kritzelkratz 3000
31 October 2003 [21] Silent Storm Nival Interactive
28 November 2003 [22] SpellForce: The Order of Dawn Phenomic Game Development
27 May 2004 Söldner: Secret Wars Wings Simulations
8 June 2004 [23] Transport GiantJoWooD Productions
24 June 2004 [24] SpellForce: The Breath of Winter - Expansion Pack Phenomic Game Development
November 2004 [25] SpellForce: Shadow of the Phoenix - Expansion Pack Phenomic Game Development
11 November 2004 Söldner: Secret Wars Reloaded Wings Simulations
25 February 2005 [26] Söldner: Marine Corps - Expansion Pack Wings Simulations
27 March 2006 [27] Neighbours from Hell 2: On Vacation JoWooD Vienna
2 March 2005 Legend of Kay [28] PlayStation 2 Neon Studios
Kaiko
20 April 2006 SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars Microsoft WindowsPhenomic Game Development
29 September 2006 The Guild 2 [29] 4HEAD Studios
13 October 2006 Gothic 3 [30] Piranha Bytes
30 March 2007 [31] Freak Out: Extreme Freeride PlayStation 2 ColdWood Interactive
28 August 2007Microsoft Windows
14 May 2007 [32] SpellForce 2: Dragon Storm Phenomic Game Development
18 May 2007 [33] The Guild 2 - Pirates of The European Sea - Stand-alone expansion pack [34] [35] 4HEAD Studios
5 June 2007 [36] Space Force: Rogue Universe Provox Games
15 October 2007 SpellForce Universe Edition - Collection pack [37] EA Phenomic
15 October 2007 Gothic Universe Edition - Collection pack [38] DreamCatcher Interactive
30 October 2007 Painkiller: Overdose Mindware Studios
15 January 2008 Gothic 3: The Beginning Handy-Games GmbH
28 March 2008 The Golden Horde [39] World Forge
8 July 2008 Painkiller Universe - Collection Pack [40] DreamCatcher Interactive
7 October 2008 The Guild 2 - Venice - Stand-alone Expansion Pack Trine Games [41]
21 November 2008 Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods - Expansion Pack Trine Games
Mad Vulture Games
27 October 2009 Painkiller: Resurrection HomeGrown Games
27 November 2009 Yoga Wii Wii Trine Games
9 April 2010 Torchlight [42] Microsoft Windows Runic Games
12 October 2010 Arcania: Gothic 4 Spellbound Entertainment
Xbox 360 Black Forest Games
September 2011 PlayStation 3
19 October 2010 [43] The Guild 2 - Renaissance - Stand-alone expanded editionMicrosoft Windows4HEAD Studios
25 February 2011 Painkiller: Redemption DreamCatcher Interactive

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