Ascaron Entertainment was a

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

based in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Founded as Ascon by Holger Flöttmann in 1991 and later renamed in October 1996 due to the possible confusion with the Swiss company Ascom AG, the company produced titles primarily for the PC until it became insolvent in 2009.

Background and history

Ascaron had its headquarters in

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...

, a town in western Germany. It had a development studio in Aachen and an international office in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Ascaron had a particular focus on strategy and management games. Among its early successes were the '' Patrician'' series (a trading simulation) and the '' On the Ball'' series (a soccer team management simulation). More recently, the company had developed games such as '' Port Royale'' (a pirate/trading simulation game), ''

Sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or godd ...

'' (an

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

) and '' Darkstar One'' (a space combat simulation). Ascaron was also known for publishing or distributing many games from smaller developers and publishers. Examples of games distributed by Ascaron in the UK include King's Bounty: The Legend,

Audiosurf ''Audiosurf'' is a puzzle rhythm game created by Invisible Handlebar, a company founded by Dylan Fitterer. Its track-style stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks th ...

and several games in the

TrackMania ''TrackMania'' is a series of Racing video game, racing games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo DS and Wii developed by Nadeo and Firebrand Games. Instead of following the usual trend of choosing a set car ...

-series. The company distributed games from other European publishers, such as and Focus Home Interactive. In April 2009, the company was unable to pay its debts and went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

citing the extended development time of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel as the reason.Sacred Developer Ascaron Files for Bankruptcy, Currently in Takeover Talks
''shacknews.com'' The company continued trading in the hope that a solution could be found, but the company was ultimately dissolved in July 2009, with

Kalypso Media Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Cla ...

purchasing many of the licenses and assets from Ascaron Entertainment, with the notable exception of the licence for Sacred, which was acquired by Deep Silver (Germany).

Gaming Minds Studios Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Cla ...

was then launched by Kalypso and former Ascaron employees. 15 former Ascaron developers joined the Gaming Minds Studios. As of April 2010, Ascaron UK was still in operation, acting as a distributor for other publishers. Customers include

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an indep ...

Games

*'' The Patrician'' (1992) *'' On the Ball'' (Original title: ''Anstoss'') (1993) *''

Hanse - Die Expedition ''Hanse: Die Expedition'' is a strategic business simulation game released in 1994 by Ascon. The game was not released in an English-language version. Gameplay and plot The player is a trader in the 13th Century, in the German seaport town o ...

'' (1994) *''Elisabeth I'' (1995) *''Pole Position'' (1996) *''

On the Ball 2 ''On the Ball'' is a football management game series from the German developers Ascaron, former name Ascon. The premiere title in the series is ''On the Ball''. The player is managing a football club in the English League (in the original vers ...

'' (1997) *''Extreme 500'' (1998) *''

On the Ball 3 ''On the Ball'' is a football management game series from the German developers Ascaron, former name Ascon. The premiere title in the series is ''On the Ball''. The player is managing a football club in the English League (in the original vers ...

'' (2000) *''

Patrician II ''Patrician II: Quest for Power'', entitled ''Patrizier 2: Geld und Macht'' in Germany, is the second video game from developer Ascaron in their ''Patrician'' series. The sequel to '' The Patrician'', it is a game simulating trading, piracy, polit ...

'' (2000) *''

On the Ball Action ''On the Ball'' is a football management game series from the German developers Ascaron, former name Ascon. The premiere title in the series is ''On the Ball''. The player is managing a football club in the English League (in the original vers ...

'' (2001) *''Ballerburg'' (2001) *'' Big Scale Racing'' (2002) *'' Patrician III: Rise of the Hanse'' (2002) *'' Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates'' (2002) *''Hyper Rails'' (2003) *''

'' (2004) *'' Arena Wars'' (2004) *''

Port Royale 2 ''Port Royale 2'' is the sequel to the business simulation game '' Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates''. It is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. Created by Ascaron Entertainment in 2004, it combines a business simulator with real-tim ...

'' (2004) *'' Tortuga: Pirates of the New World'' (US title: ''Pirate Hunter'') (2004) *'' The Great Art Race'' (Original title: ''Vermeer 2'') (2004) *'' Sacred Underworld'' (2005) *'' DarkStar One'' (2006) *'' Tortuga: Two Treasures'' (2007) *'' Sacred 2: Fallen Angel'' (2008) *''

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

'' (2008)

References

External links

Official website
(offline, archived 2008) * {{Ascaron Defunct video game companies of Germany Video game companies established in 1992 Video game companies disestablished in 2009 Video game development companies Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia

Background and history

Games

See also

References

External links