August 23rd, 2007

Deep Silver aquires Games That Matters, ex-Rockstar Studio, Vienna

Published at 6:00 AM PST

For those that didn't know, Games That Matters is a game company started in January of this year by ex-employee's of Rockstar Vienna. Another company, Deep Silver, announced at Leipzig this week that they are acquiring Games That Matters.

Koch Media, a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products in Europe, acquires the Austrian games production company Games That Matter.

The company merges with Koch Media’s premium games label, Deep Silver. Games That Matter’s structure and goals remain the same: Deep Silver Vienna fully concentrates on high quality games, especially for consoles. In the center of all efforts are producing, successful publishing and establishing new brands.

A press release was release soon after:

Koch Media, a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products in Europe, acquires the Austrian games production company Games That Matter. Founded in 2006 by games industry veterans Hannes Seifert and Niki Laber, the company merges with Koch Media's premium games label, Deep Silver. Games That Matter's structure and goals remain the same: Deep Silver Vienna fully concentrates on high quality games, especially for consoles. In the center of all efforts are producing, successful publishing and establishing new brands.

“With Koch Media, we found a strong partner who excellently complements our long-time experience and our new and innovative business model. Now we can fully concentrate on our core competences.” said Niki Laber, Managing Director of Games That Matter.

For Koch Media, the formation of Deep Silver Vienna means the achievement of a major strategic goal. With the seamless integration of the founding members of the legendary Rockstar Vienna team (among others “GTA” and “Max Payne”), the company expands its future product portfolio and also strengthens its leading market position as an independent games publisher in Europe and around the world.

Klemens Kundratitz, General Manager of Koch Media, added: “With the integration of Games That Matter, we enter a new era for Deep Silver. Deep Silver Vienna will massively push our reputation as an independent publisher. The former Rockstar Vienna team brings along the experience that is needed for building long-term, globally strong and successful video game brands. Games That Matter developed a cutting-edge production model and we believe in their approach. Deep Silver Vienna will play a decisive role in our strategy of becoming even more international, focusing more on the console business and establishing our own brands.”

It appears they will be re-naming the company in a similar way Rockstar had it named originally, Rockstar Vienna. PlayThrough.net discovered the domain deepsilvervienna.com registered, it is expected to be the official website of the company. It is, and will be, interesting to see how the ex-Rockstar company will go. So far it hasn't looked so good for them, perhaps a change is coming? Good luck guys!