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.
 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | June 2011 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | , Austria |
| Products |
|
| Subsidiaries | DreamCatcher Interactive |
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that, unable to negotiate with potential investors, they were officially facing bankruptcy proceedings and had withdrawn their application for a recapitalization plan.[7] In June 2011, JoWooD Entertainment all their assets and its subsidiary, Quantic Lab, was acquired by Nordic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 date | Title | Platform(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 Windows | JoWooD 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 2 | JoWooD 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 Windows | Piranha 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 Giant | JoWooD Productions | |
| 24 June 2004[24] | SpellForce: Breath of Winter - Expansion Pack | Phenomic Game Development | |
| November 2004[25] | SpellForce: The 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 Windows | Phenomic 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 2007 | Microsoft 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 edition | Microsoft Windows | 4HEAD Studios |
| 25 February 2011 | Painkiller: Redemption | DreamCatcher Interactive | |
| 19 June 2012 | SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny | Trine Games[41] Mind Over Matter[44] |