Plaion

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Koch Media is the official distributor of Sega products in Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.[1][2][3]

Koch Media GmbH is a German-Austrian media company headquartered in Höfen, Tyrol, Austria, with an operating subsidiary based in Planegg, Germany. The company was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz. The company operates video game publishing labels Deep Silver and Ravenscourt, the video game developers Warhorse Studios and Milestone, as well as a film distribution arm, Koch Films. Koch Media's parent company, Koch Media Holding, was acquired by Swedish holding company Embracer Group (then known as THQ Nordic AB) in February 2018.

History

Early history (1994–2015)

Template:Primary sources section Koch Media was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and his business partner, Klemens Kundratitz to market and distribute software.[4][5][6] Koch Media operated out of offices in Germany and Austria, while a regional subsidiary, Koch Media Ltd., was opened in England.[7] In 1995, Koch Media sold more than 250,000 software licenses, and in 1996, the company began distributing video games.[7] Another regional subsidiary, Koch Media AG, was formed in Switzerland in 1998.[7] A holding company, Koch Media Holding, was established in 2000 to unite Koch Media's business areas.[7] The same year, Koch Media srl was formed as a regional subsidiary for Italy.[7]

In 2002, Koch Media established Deep Silver as a video game publishing division.[8] A film division, Koch Home Entertainment, was announced in June 2003 and formally formed in early October.[9][10] A game label for mass-market games, Fantastic.tv, was announced in November 2003.[11] In October 2005, Koch Media acquired French distributor SG Diffusion, which had recently signed with NCsoft to distribute their game Guild Wars.[12][13] SG Diffusion was renamed Koch Media SAS in January 2006.[14] In February 2006, they established Koch Media Licensing GmbH as their license holding subsidiary.[15] Another game label, named Spielen wir (Template:Literally "Let's Play"), was created in July 2008 to publish casual games under.[16] The same month, Koch Media acquired Proein, the Spanish distribution arm of SCi Entertainment, to undisclosed terms.[17] Proein was renamed Koch Media S.L.U. in January 2009.[18] Regional offices for Scandinavian and Benelux countries, operated by the England subsidiary, were opened in February and July that year, respectively.[19][20] In March 2012, Koch Media had 250 employees.[21] Another game publishing label, focusing on simulation games, was announced in March 2015.[22] In August 2015, Koch Media Licensing GmbH was renamed Koch Films GmbH and absorbed the operations of the former Koch Home Entertainment division.[23]

Under Embracer Group (2018–present)

On 14 February 2018, Koch Media Holding was acquired by THQ Nordic AB (later known as Embracer Group), a Swedish video game holding company.[24] The purchase agreement was signed at 8:00 AM, and the deal was announced that same day.[24][25] The deal comprised a purchase price of Template:€, split into Template:€ in cash paid at closure of the deal (which was expected to occur later on the same day), Template:€ in stock to be paid by 15 June 2018, and another Template:€ in cash to be paid by 14 August 2018.[26] The total consideration for Koch Media's share capital amounted to Template:€ on a cash and debt-free basis.[26]

Koch and Kundratitz had owned 90% and 10% in the company, respectively, and both of them sold their shares, and THQ Nordic AB became the sole owner of the company.[24] According to manager Reinhard Gratl, the sale primarily came about because Koch wanted to retire, and no one in his family was interested in taking over the business.[24] He asked for all money to be paid to Koch Media instead of him, so the company could profit from the deal.[24] Koch resigned from Koch Media on the same day.[24] Koch Media's management, consisting of chief executive officer Kundratitz, chief financial officer Gratl and chief operating officer Stefan Kapelari, was subsequently joined by THQ Nordic AB's Erik Stenberg.[24]

On 13 February 2019, Koch Media entered into an agreement to acquire Czech developer Warhorse Studios. Warhorse's game Kingdom Come: Deliverance had been co-published by Deep Silver exactly one year prior, and Koch Media paid Template:€, equal to Warhorse's 2018 earnings, to seize ownership over the studio and its intellectual property.[27] The acquisition closed later that day.[28] Also on the same day, it was announced that Koch Media had also acquired 18point2, an Australian publishing partner, for Template:€, aiming at establishing a stronger presence in the Australian market for Koch Media.[29][30] The two acquisitions added 120 and 8 employees, respectively, to Koch Media's staff.[31][32]

In June 2019, THQ Nordic AB acquired KSM GmbH, a German distributor of anime films, from its founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Benjamin Krause.[33] KSM is to be merged into Koch Films.[33] Also acquired was Gaya Entertainment, a merchandise production company; Nordic Games Group, a holding company controlled by THQ Nordic AB CEO Lars Wingefors, sold the subsidiary to THQ Nordic AB for Template:€ at the end of the latter's first fiscal quarter of 2019.[33] Gaya Entertainment is to be consolidated with Koch Media's operations.[33] On 14 August 2019, Koch Media agreed to fully acquire racing game developer Milestone srl and all of its intellectual property for Template:€ paid in cash.[34][35] The acquisition was completed later that day.[36]

Koch Films acquired Sola Media, a Stuttgart, Germany-based television-and-film licenser for children and family properties, in August 2020.[37][38] Later that month, Koch Media opened offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo, both headed by Kundratitz, to expand publishing operations in Southeast Asia.[39]

In September 2020, Koch Media acquired Vertigo Games, who develops, publishes, and distributes games exclusively for virtual reality platforms, including the currently available zombie survival first-person shooter Arizona Sunshine and the upcoming action first-person shooter After the Fall.[40]

In November 2020, Koch Media acquired Flying Wild Hog.[41]

In March 2021, Koch Media signed a €50 million co-publishing deal with Starbreeze Studios to finance the production, release, and post-launch support of co-op shooter Payday 3, with Starbreeze Studios retaining ownership of the IP.[42]

Offices

As of February 2018, Koch Media is headquartered in Höfen, a municipality with a population of roughly 1,200 people that is located in Austria's Tyrol region and close to Bavaria, Germany.[24][43] In Höfen, Koch Media occupies an office complex in which the company employs 150 people in various departments.[24][43] The property, as well as an adjacent Template:Convert plot, is owned by Embracer Group.[24] In Planegg, a municipality in Bavaria that is located close to Munich, Koch Media operates a subsidiary branch also called Koch Media GmbH.[43] Worldwide, Koch Media employs 800 people.[24][43]

Subsidiaries

Division Studio Location Founded/Acquired Defunct Ref.
18Point2 Sydney February 2019 [44]
Deep Silver Dambuster Studios Nottingham July 2014 [45]
Deep Silver Vienna Vienna August 2007 February 2010 [46][47]
Fishlabs Hamburg December 2013 [48]
Volition Champaign January 2013 [49]
Warhorse Studios Prague February 2019 [50]
Flying Wild Hog Flying Wild Hog Cracow Cracow November 2020 [51]
Flying Wild Hog Rzeszów Rzeszów
Gaya Entertainment Langenfeld August 2019 [52]
Koch Films KSM Planegg December 2019 [53][54]
Sola Media Stuttgart August 2020 [37]
Milestone Milan August 2019 [55]
Ravenscourt Voxler Paris / Marseille February 2020 [56]
Vertigo Games Vertigo Arcade Rotterdam / Los Angeles September 2020 [57]
Vertigo Publishing [57]
Vertigo Studios [57]

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.mcvuk.com/business/koch-media-will-distribute-sega-games-in-nordic
  2. ↑ https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/6/28/3123317/sega-shutting-down-offices-throughout-europe
  3. ↑ http://n4g.com/news/1709457/koch-media-will-publish-all-sega-games-in-italy
  4. ↑ Template:Cite web
  5. ↑ Template:Cite web
  6. ↑ Template:Cite web
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Template:Cite web
  8. ↑ Template:Cite web
  9. ↑ Template:Cite web
  10. ↑ Template:Cite web
  11. ↑ Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ Template:Cite web
  13. ↑ Template:Cite web
  14. ↑ Template:Cite web
  15. ↑ Template:Cite web
  16. ↑ Template:Cite web
  17. ↑ Template:Cite web
  18. ↑ Template:Cite web
  19. ↑ Template:Cite web
  20. ↑ Template:Cite web
  21. ↑ Template:Cite web
  22. ↑ Template:Cite web
  23. ↑ Template:Cite web
  24. ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TT
  25. ↑ Template:Cite web
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named THQN
  27. ↑ Template:Cite web
  28. ↑ Template:Cite web
  29. ↑ Template:Cite web
  30. ↑ Template:Cite web
  31. ↑ Template:Cite web
  32. ↑ Template:Cite web
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Template:Cite web
  34. ↑ Template:Cite web
  35. ↑ Template:Cite web
  36. ↑ Template:Cite web
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Template:Cite web
  38. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  39. ↑ Template:Cite web
  40. ↑ Template:Cite web
  41. ↑ Template:Cite web
  42. ↑ Template:Cite web
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 Template:Cite web
  44. ↑ Template:Cite web
  45. ↑ Template:Cite web
  46. ↑ Template:Cite web
  47. ↑ Template:Cite web
  48. ↑ Template:Cite web
  49. ↑ Template:Cite web
  50. ↑ Template:Cite web
  51. ↑ Template:Cite web
  52. ↑ Template:Cite web
  53. ↑ Template:Cite web
  54. ↑ Template:Cite web
  55. ↑ Template:Cite web
  56. ↑ Template:Cite web
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 Template:Cite news

External links

Template:Embracer Group Template:Deep Silver

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