Kalypso Media Group is a German company that creates and sells video games. It was started in 2006 in Worms, Germany. The company includes four businesses located in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It has several studios, such as Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Claymore Game Studios, and Nine Worlds Studios. Kalypso is most famous for publishing games like Tropico, Sudden Strike, Dungeons, and the Railway Empire series.

History

Kalypso Media was founded on August 16, 2006, by Simon Hellwig and Stefan Marcinek. One year later, a branch was opened in Bracknell, UK, and in June 2009, another branch was established in Ridgewood, USA. In 2009, the company opened its second UK office, Kalypso Media Digital Ltd., in Leicester. Kalypso Media Digital Ltd. is responsible for promoting the company’s own games and the products of other providers online.

In November 2008, Kalypso created a subsidiary called Realmforge Studios GmbH, located in Munich, and combined it with Boxed Dreams, the developer of Ceville. At the same time, Kalypso acquired the rights to the Tropico series from Take Two Interactive. The first game in the series published by Kalypso was Tropico 3.

In April 2009, UK-based Ascaron filed for bankruptcy. Kalypso acquired the rights to Ascaron’s game series, including DarkStar One, Patrician, and Port Royale, in June 2009. However, Kalypso left other assets, such as the Sacred series, with Ascaron. Kalypso also hired fifteen former Ascaron employees to create its second internal studio, Gaming Minds Studio, in Gütersloh. Kalypso owned 60% of the studio, while Daniel Dumont and Kay Struve, former Ascaron employees, owned the remaining 40%.

In July 2010, Berlin-based company The Games Company (TGC) filed for bankruptcy. In September, Kalypso took over TGC, acquiring several brands owned by the company. Kalypso also brought TGC’s internal studio, Silver Style Entertainment, into its operations and created a third internal studio, Noumena Studios, in Berlin. The studio was renamed Skilltree Studios in 2014 but was closed by Kalypso in March 2016.

In April 2014, Kalypso founded a sister company, Kalypso Media Mobile, in Berlin to develop mobile and tablet games. The studio released its first mobile and tablet games in May 2015.

In January 2016, Stefan Marcinek sold his shares in Kalypso and left the company, leaving Simon Hellwig as the sole owner.

In July 2018, Kalypso acquired the Commandos, Imperial Glory, and Praetorians series from Pyro Studios. Pyro Studios, which has focused on supporting Ilion Animation Studios, supported Kalypso’s effort to bring its titles back to the market. Kalypso later announced high-definition remasters of Commandos 2 and Praetorians for early 2020 and created its third internal studio, Claymore Game Studios, to develop new games in the Commandos series. In June 2020, Kalypso fully acquired the remaining ownership of Gaming Minds from Dumont and Struve, who continued to lead the studio.

In October 2021, Kalypso announced a new studio in Munich called Nine Worlds Studios, named after the nine worlds of Norse mythology. The studio will be responsible for creating a new entry in the Tropico series. Project Manager Thomas Schneider, previously of Aesir Interactive, was hired to lead the studio’s setup.

On October 18, 2022, Kalypso announced that co-founder Simon Hellwig had died.

Subsidiaries

Kalypso has several development studios:

• Realmforge Studios was founded in Munich in November 2008. It included the team from Boxed Dreams, who created the game Ceville. Realmforge manages the development of the Dungeons series and, since December 2020, the Tropico series.
• Gaming Minds Studios was founded in Gütersloh in June 2009. It was formed after the company Ascaron went out of business, and it added fifteen former Ascaron developers to its team. Gaming Minds creates games in the Railway Empire and Port Royale series.
• Claymore Game Studios was founded in Darmstadt in December 2019. The studio worked on the game Commandos: Origins.
• Nine Worlds Studios was founded in Munich in October 2021. Thomas Schneider, who previously worked at Aesir Interactive, was hired as project manager. The studio began working on Tropico 7.

• In September 2010, Kalypso took over Silver Style Entertainment, which was part of The Games Company (TGC). This happened after TGC closed in July 2010. Kalypso also created a third internal studio called Noumena Studios in Berlin. In 2014, the studio was renamed Skilltree Studios. However, in March 2016, Kalypso decided to close the studio.