Deck13 Interactive GmbH (formerly TriggerLab GmbH) is a German

video game developer A video game developer is 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 large business with em ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

based in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. The company was founded in July 2001 by the team behind Artex Software, a studio that primarily developed video games for

RISC OS RISC OS () is an operating system designed to run on ARM architecture, ARM computers. Originally designed in 1987 by Acorn Computers of England, it was made for use in its new line of ARM-based Acorn Archimedes, Archimedes personal computers an ...

, such as '' Ankh: The Tales of Mystery''. Originally bearing the name TriggerLab, the company was renamed to Deck13 after the release of its first game, ''Stealth Combat'', in 2002. Deck13 is best known for developing the

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...

s ''

Lords of the Fallen ''Lords of the Fallen'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Deck13 and CI Games. It was released in October 2014 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows. A mobile version of the game, which features one-to-one swipe combat contro ...

'' and '' The Surge''. Deck13 also operates a

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

-based subsidiary studio, Deck13 Hamburg.

History

Deck13 is the successor to Artex Software, a development team that created the game ''Ankh'' for

. The company was founded as TriggerLab in 2001 by Jan Klose and Florian Stadlbauer. TriggerLab developed ''Stealth Combat'', which was first released in Germany on 25 February 2002; shortly thereafter, on 2 April 2002, the company was renamed as Deck13 Interactive. The name "Deck13" was derived from "DM-Deck16", a game map from ''

Unreal Tournament ''Unreal Tournament'' is a 1999 first-person shooter game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the '' Unreal'' series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Windows, and later released on the P ...

'' (1999). In 2005, the humorous

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

Ankh The ankh or key of life is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol used to represent the word for "life" and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself. The ankh has a T-shape topped by a droplet-shaped loop. It was used in writing as a tri ...

'' was released, which was a remake of the 1997 game '' Ankh: The Tales of Mystery'' by Artex Software. As the product sold very well and won several awards (especially in Germany), the sequel '' Ankh: Heart of Osiris'' was produced and released almost exactly one year later, reusing elements of the previous title. In August 2007, the adventure game ''

Jack Keane John M. Keane (born 1 February 1943) is a retired American general who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1999 to 2003. He is a national security analyst, primarily on Fox News, and serves as chairman of the Institute ...

'' was released which was similar to the ''Ankh'' series in terms of graphics and gameplay but which was set in England and

colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during and after the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spice trade, spices. The search for ...

. The third part of the ''Ankh'' series, ''The Battle of the Gods'', was released in Germany on 19 November 2007. One of their latest games, the

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

called ''

Venetica ''Venetica'' is a 2009 fantasy-themed action role-playing video game developed by Deck13 and published by DTP Entertainment. It was first released in Europe on 4 September 2009 for Microsoft Windows, with ports for the Xbox 360, and PlayStation ...

'' was released in September 2009 and was the first RPG to be published by the company. Afterwards, Deck13 Interactive was working on ''

Blood Knights ''Blood Knights'' is an action role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 (through PlayStation Network), and Xbox 360 (through Xbox Live Arcade). The game was developed by German studio Deck13 Interactive and published by Kalypso Me ...

'', a comic

hack-and-slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...

for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

, which was released in 2013. In 2015, Deck13 released ''

'' in co-operation

CI Games CI Games S.A. (formerly City Interactive S.A.) is a Polish video game developer and publisher based in Warsaw. Founded in 2002, originally as a budget-range game company, CI Games is best known for the '' Sniper: Ghost Warrior'' and '' Lords of ...

. While a sequel was announced by the publisher, Deck13 was not named as the developer. Instead, the studio was announced to be working with

Focus Home Interactive Focus Entertainment (formerly Focus Home Interactive) is a French video game publisher based in Paris. It is a subsidiary of PulluP Entertainment Group. Founded in 1996, Focus has published and distributed original titles such as ''Sherlock Holm ...

on the then-upcoming '' The Surge''. In September 2016,

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Florian Stadlbauer announced that he had left the company and had since replaced by Mathias Reichert. In June 2020, Focus Home Interactive acquired the company for €7.1 million. In February 2021, Deck13 opened a development studio in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Games developed

Cancelled

* ''The Mystery of the Seven Symbols'' * ''Jade Rousseau: Die Geheimen Evangelien – Episode 2: Die Bruderschaft'' * ''Jade Rousseau: Die Geheimen Evangelien – Episode 3: Das geheime Dossier'' * ''Jade Rousseau: Die Geheimen Evangelien – Episode 4: Der Weg in die Finsternis'' * ''Jade Rousseau: Die Geheimen Evangelien – Episode 5: Die Geister der Vergangenheit'' * ''Jade Rousseau: Die Geheimen Evangelien – Episode 6: Der Zorn Gottes''

Games published

References

External links