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Plaion GmbH (formerly Koch Media) is an Austrian media company headquartered in Höfen, Tyrol, with an additional office in Planegg, Germany. It was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz. The company operates video game publishing labels Deep Silver, Prime Matter and Ravenscourt, the video game developers Warhorse Studios and
Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...
, as well as a film distribution arm, Plaion Pictures. Koch Media's parent company, Koch Media Holding, was acquired by Swedish holding company Embracer Group (then known as THQ Nordic AB) in February 2018.


History


Early history (1994–2015)

Koch Media was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch (founder of Koch International) and his business partner, Klemens Kundratitz to market and distribute software. Koch Media operated out of offices in Germany and Austria, while a regional subsidiary, Koch Media Ltd., was opened in England. In 1995, Koch Media sold more than 250,000 software licenses, and in 1996, the company began distributing video games. Another regional subsidiary, Koch Media AG, was formed in Switzerland in 1998. A
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
, Koch Media Holding, was established in 2000 to unite Koch Media's business areas. The same year, Koch Media srl was formed as a regional subsidiary for Italy. In 2002, Koch Media established Deep Silver as a video game publishing division to "complement games that och Mediawas distributing". A film division, Koch Home Entertainment, was announced in June 2003 and formally formed in early October. A game label for mass-market games, Fantastic.tv, was announced in November 2003. In October 2005, Koch Media acquired French distributor SG Diffusion, which had recently signed with NCsoft to distribute their game ''
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''. SG Diffusion was renamed Koch Media SAS in January 2006. In February 2006, they established Koch Media Licensing GmbH as their license holding subsidiary. Another game label, named Spielen wir ( "Let's Play"), was created in July 2008 to publish
casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...
s under. The same month, Koch Media acquired Proein, the Spanish distribution arm of SCi Entertainment, to undisclosed terms. Proein was renamed Koch Media S.L.U. in January 2009. Regional offices for
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n and
Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...
countries, operated by the England subsidiary, were opened in February and July that year, respectively. In March 2012, Koch Media had 250 employees. The creation of another game publishing label named Ravenscourt, focusing on simulation games, was announced in March 2015. In August 2015, Koch Media Licensing GmbH was renamed Koch Films GmbH and absorbed the operations of the former Koch Home Entertainment division.


Under Embracer Group (2018–present)

On 14 February 2018, Koch Media Holding was acquired by THQ Nordic AB (later known as Embracer Group), a Swedish video game holding company. The purchase agreement was signed at 8:00 AM, and the deal was announced that same day. The deal comprised a purchase price of , split into in cash paid at closure of the deal (which was expected to occur later on the same day), in stock to be paid by 15 June 2018, and another in cash to be paid by 14 August 2018. The total consideration for Koch Media's share capital amounted to on a cash and debt-free basis. Koch and Kundratitz had owned 90% and 10% in the company, respectively, and both of them sold their shares, and THQ Nordic AB became the sole owner of the company. According to manager Reinhard Gratl, the sale primarily came about because Koch wanted to retire, and no one in his family was interested in taking over the business. He asked for all money to be paid to Koch Media instead of him, so the company could profit from the deal. Koch resigned from Koch Media on the same day. Koch Media's management, consisting of
chief executive officer 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 ...
Kundratitz,
chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...
Gratl and
chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
Stefan Kapelari, was subsequently joined by THQ Nordic AB's Erik Stenberg. On 13 February 2019, Koch Media entered into an agreement to acquire Czech developer Warhorse Studios. Warhorse's game '' Kingdom Come: Deliverance'' had been co-published by Deep Silver exactly one year prior, and Koch Media paid , equal to Warhorse's 2018 earnings, to seize ownership over the studio and its
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
. The acquisition closed later that day. Also on the same day, it was announced that Koch Media had also acquired 18point2, an Australian publishing partner, for , aiming at establishing a stronger presence in the Australian market for Koch Media. The two acquisitions added 120 and 8 employees, respectively, to Koch Media's staff. In June 2019, THQ Nordic AB acquired KSM GmbH, a German distributor of anime films, from its founder and
chief executive officer 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 ...
(CEO), Benjamin Krause. KSM is to be merged into Koch Films. Also acquired was Gaya Entertainment, a
merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...
production company; Nordic Games Group, a holding company controlled by THQ Nordic AB CEO Lars Wingefors, sold the subsidiary to THQ Nordic AB for at the end of the latter's first
fiscal quarter A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...
of 2019. Gaya Entertainment is to be consolidated with Koch Media's operations. On 14 August 2019, Koch Media agreed to fully acquire
racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a motor racing, racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more re ...
developer Milestone srl and all of its intellectual property for paid in cash. The acquisition was completed later that day. Koch Films acquired Sola Media, a Stuttgart, Germany-based television-and-film licenser for children and family properties, in August 2020. Later that month, Koch Media opened offices in
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and
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, both headed by Kundratitz, to expand publishing operations in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. In September 2020, Koch Media acquired Vertigo Games, who develops, publishes, and distributes games exclusively for virtual reality platforms, including '' Arizona Sunshine'' and ''After the Fall''. In November 2020, Koch Media acquired Flying Wild Hog. In March 2021, Koch Media signed a €50 million co-publishing deal with Starbreeze Studios to finance the production, release, and post-launch support of '' Payday 3'', with Starbreeze Studios retaining ownership of the IP. Koch Media opened a new publishing division, Prime Matter, in June 2021, operating from its
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
headquarters.


Rebranding as Plaion

On 4 August 2022, Koch Media rebranded themselves as Plaion. In October 2022, Plaion Pictures acquired British anime distribution company
Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime, is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, ...
for an undisclosed sum. In May 2023, Gamesindustry.biz learned of plans to dissolve Deep Silver, Ravenscourt and Prime Matter, and consolidate the publishing business under the "Plaion" label. In January 2025, Kundratitz announced he was stepping down as CEO, and would be transferring leadership to Phil Rogers in April.


Offices

As of February 2018, Plaion is headquartered in Höfen, a municipality with a population of roughly 1,200 people that is located in Austria's
Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...
region and close to
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, Germany. In Höfen, Plaion occupies an office complex in which the company employs 150 people in various departments. The property, as well as an adjacent plot, is owned by Embracer Group. In Planegg, a municipality in Bavaria that is located close to
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Plaion operates a subsidiary branch also called Plaion GmbH.


Subsidiaries


Divested subsidiaries


See also

* List of Deep Silver games * List of Prime Matter games * List of Ravenscourt games


References


External links

* {{Deep Silver 2018 mergers and acquisitions Austrian companies established in 1994 Companies based in Tyrol (federal state) Embracer Group Mass media companies established in 1994 Mass media companies of Austria