Gothic and Risen developer Piranha Bytes appears to have been shut down by parent company THQ Nordic (itself owned by Embracer Group), if a new report is to be believed.
According to a report by Polish gaming news platform CD-Action, the developer, which is known for mechanically clunky but ambitious RPGs like Risen, Gothic, and Elex, was shut down towards the end of last month.
The report claims that Piranha Bytes was expecting funding to arrive from an investor for its latest project, which CD-Action says would have been a Gothic-style dark fantasy RPG created in Unreal Engine 5.
It’s worth noting that CD-Action simply cites an anonymous “source” who is supposedly a Piranha Bytes employee, but since that employee isn’t named, make sure to take this report with a pinch of salt.
It does, however, line up with what we already know about Piranha Bytes’ situation. Back in January, the studio described its situation as “difficult”, imploring fans not to “write us off yet” with regards to an unannounced project.
Piranha Bytes said at the time that it would “do whatever it takes” to find a publishing and funding partner for the project, but it seems that if CD-Action’s report is correct, those efforts sadly haven’t borne fruit.
Additionally, Piranha Bytes creative director and longtime staffer Björn Pankratz announced earlier today that he has founded a new indie studio, Pithead, along with his wife Jennifer, although his LinkedIn page still lists him as a current employee of Piranha Bytes.
If Piranha Bytes has indeed been closed, then that means the studio’s final project was 2022’s Elex 2, an action RPG very much in the Piranha Bytes tradition. There are worse ways to go out, eh?
Of course, this won’t impact the upcoming Gothic remake. Although Piranha Bytes was the developer for the original Gothic, the new project is being worked on by an internal THQ Nordic studio and doesn’t involve Piranha Bytes.
We contacted THQ Nordic for further information on this story, but they refused to comment on the situation. Watch this space for more info.
